Barriers
by Loss Thief
Summary: Barriers protect, and defend, and separate. But they are not infallible. When a movement comes into being that no one ever saw coming, both Equestria, and earth, face horrifying consequences.
1. Chapter 1

**Barriers**

**By Loss Thief**

_There are walls constructed that are never meant to break. They are thought to be impenetrable, by even the most powerful of magic. But while it is true that friendship is magic, others exist as well...Obsession, Devotion, Corruption, Love, Desperation...and they each have the power to build or destroy. And now they have joined together, without their wielders' knowledge, to attack the barriers meant to protect us._

In the world of Equestria, a young pony named Rainbow Dash wakes screaming in the night, her mind's eye blinded with images of her own death. Far off, in another universe altogether, a young blogger is stricken with insomnia, and his waking dreams are filled visions of chaos...and ponies.

The barriers have existed for time eternal, but they face an attack for which they were never prepared. The unwieldy forces that strike them hammer away without rest...and the cracks are starting to show.

**Chapter One**

On almost any morning, Rainbow Dash would tell anypony who asked that she wished the sun didn't rise so early. Nothing against Princess Celestia, mind you, but she always seemed to get woken up before right before the best part of her dreams. She'd lost count of the times she'd been right in the middle of performing a triple-windy super-sonic somersault, only to be woken up by the distant cry of Fluttershy's rooster.

But that morning, things were…different.

Dash had been awake for hours; eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling of the pure-white castle cloud she lived in. She usually slept fine, unless there was a race or competition the next day, but even then she usually found a way to nod off to sleep eventually.

But not that night.

She wasn't sure why she'd stayed in bed the whole time. Maybe it was because she still felt too dizzy…too freaked out…too scared out of her mind to fly. Maybe she was desperately trying to get _back_ to sleep to try and banish the images that had been wafting through her mind all night. All Dash really knew was that she _couldn't_ sleep. If she did…she might go back to that…was it really just a dream?

_ No,_ she thought. _Not a dream, a nightmare!_

This morning, she welcomed the far off cry of Chanticleer, because it finally gave her the motivation to get out of bed, to try and wash off that...that horrible sensation. She made her way outside, and alighted towards the ground. Even when her thoughts were elsewhere, her superb flying skills glided her safely to the ground unconsciously.

The light-blue Pegasus hesitated as she turned toward Ponyville.

_C'mon Rainbow Dash, stop being such a wimp! You gonna let some dumb old nightmare set you shaking in your hooves? You're not some scared little filly; you're the greatest flyer in all of Equestria!_

With a new determination, the pony started off at a light canter towards Ponyville City Hall for her daily weather tasks.

_Still, I think I'll steer clear of Sugar Cube Corner today._

* * *

><p>A young man sat in front of his computer screen, slowly sifting his was through dozens (or was it <em>hundreds<em>) of emails. Most of them were repeats. Fast reacting fans who were all in a rush to be the first to tell him about the latest fancomic, or an update for another longfic, or some rumor their friend's friend's friend had supposedly maybe kinda possibly heard about plans for the next season. After the first couple of months he'd learned to skim the messages quick and find what was important.

_Seth, look at yourself. It's nearly 4 in the morning, and you're still awake, reading a metric shite load of emails about _My Little Pony_ fanfiction. Are you really happy with your life right now?_

Just as this though crossed the young blogger's mind, he opened up and email that started off with a picture of Pinkie Pie riding on Rainbow Dash in front of a fan.

_It sounds crazy…but yeah, I'd say I'm pretty happy with my life at the moment._

Maybe it was the sleep deprivation making him wonder these things. Maybe it was the overzealous /co/ poster from earlier that day who called him a "fucking disgrace." Maybe everybody at some point in their life started having a "ponder just what the hell you're doing with your life" phase. No matter what, though, he figured he couldn't complain.

_I get to spend hours every day talking with other people about something I love. I don't think I have any right to complain about where I am in life._

Finally shutting down the computer for the night, Seth stood up from the desk chair, stretched, and yawned. He needed to get some sleep before tomorrow…or before today, really.

_I _do_ have a right to complain about my sleep schedule though. Jesus Christ this can't be a healthy lifestyle. One can only subsist off of cheeriness and internet memes for so long before they drop dead with a smile on their face._

Seth lay down in bed, shut his eyes, and tried his damndest to force himself to sleep.

* * *

><p>Twilight Sparkle had <em>meant<em> to go to bed at a decent hour, wake up not long after sunrise, and get a good amount of studying done so she'd have the rest of the day free. Unfortunately, those plans had been foiled when Owlowiscious had found a copy of _Equine Eras of Excellence_, an absolutely enthralling book about the history of Equestria. It had apparently been sitting hidden in the back corner of a shelf, and her nocturnal assistant had brought it to her not long before she had planned to go to bed.

Not for the first time, the purple unicorn had let her curiosity get the better of her, and had stayed up well into the night reading through it. She'd just made it to the beginning of the rise of the Cult of Colt, an insurrection group from 400 years in the past that had attempted to overthrow Celestia and instate a patriarchal oligarchy in her place, when she'd realized the late hour and forced herself to go to bed, hoping she'd wake up on time.

As she should have expected, she hadn't.

The sun was well and truly up by the time she awoke, and Twilight let out a loud groan. Her first thoughts were of whether it would be better to get straight to studying for the rest of the day, try to sate her curiosity and eliminate ongoing distraction by finishing _EEE_, or try to meet up with some of her friends. After all, it had been quite a while since she'd had anything to write to the Princess concerning friendship. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't sent a report about her studies since the Grand Galloping Gala, and that had been _months_ ago.

She doubted Celestia would be angry with her lack of correspondence, considering how busy the Princess always seemed to be. But if she didn't find something to send soon…would Celestia maybe think she had learned all she could? Would the Princess order her to come back to the academy?

No…she was just being paranoid. But still, it would be a good idea to spend time with her friends. It felt like forever since she'd seen Pinkie Pie. Sugar Cube Corner had been swamped with business the past few weeks, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake had needed Pinkie there 'round the clock to help with all the baking.

_I wonder what it is about summer that makes everypony have such a ravenous sweet tooth. Either way, I've decided. First stop of the day is Sugar Cube Corner! Maybe I can try my hoof at baking too, that should give me a story to tell Celestia about, and it should make things easier on them down there. It can't be easy trying to keep up with orders from everypony in town._

As she was double checking to make sure there wasn't anything she'd need to bring with her to help cook, Twilight realized she hadn't heard a word from Spike since she'd gotten up. Going over to check the young dragon's bed basket, she found a note inside. It read:

_Dear, Twilight_

_ Rarity just came by to ask for my help with something at her boutique. I wanted to ask you if it was okay, but figured I shouldn't wake you. I'm not sure how long It'll take, but if you need me, you know where to find me!_

_ Sincerely, Spike_

"Didn't want to wake me?" Twilight pondered aloud. "It sounds more like he didn't want to risk having to say no to Rarity. I hope he doesn't work himself too hard though. Rarity would never try to get him to overexert himself, but for her…I'd bet he'd never admit to being tired. Guess I'll have to check in on the two of them after I'm done at Sugar Cube."

Without further delay the purple Unicorn trotted out the door, magically closing it behind her.

Twilight had almost made it to Sugar Cube Corner when she spotted Rainbow Dash. The blue Pegasus Pony was acting very strange, walking with her body nearly pressed up against the the walls of the buildings surrounding the town square, and she kept giving wary glances towards the sweets shop.

Knowing something had to be wrong, Twilight trotted towards Rainbow Dash. Her friend spotted the unicorn approaching, and seemed to freeze for a moment, as if she was trying to reason if it was better to run or stay. She seemed to settle on remaining where she was, and hesitantly turned to face the advancing pony.

"Hi there Rainbow Dash," Twilight greeted her friend. "Is everything alright? You seem a little…uneasy."

"Oh, uh, do I?" Dash stammered. "I uh, don't know why you would think _that_. I'm just pinkie, uh, peachie keen. Got all my work for arranging the clouds done early, so I was just looking around to try and find somepony to hang out with."

Twilight was skeptical of Dash's denial, but decided it was better not to press the issue.

"Oh, well I was just going to head to Sugar Cube Corner to see if Pinkie Pie wanted any help making the treats today, would you want to come and help out? I know baking's not really you're thing, but it would still be really fun if we were working together."

"Um, well, I uh, um, I don't think that I, um, ah," Dash mumbled, seemingly doing her best impression of Fluttershy. "That's uh, that's nice and all, but I don't really…know if I'll…really be of help when it comes to cooking, ya know?"

"I understand…are you, are you sure you're really alright? You seem really nervous about something? Did something happen?"

Twilight wasn't certain if she was being too pushy, but she had the feeling Rainbow Dash did want to talk about what was bothering her, but was reluctant to do so. After several seconds of stammering and a avoiding eye contact, Rainbow Dash finally sighed and decided o come clean.

"I guess I can tell you, but you have to promise me it'll just be a secret between us, okay? You can't tell _anyone_ about it, alright?"

"Of course, Rainbow, I'd never dream of telling somepony something you told me in confidence. Not after that whole catastrophe with Pinkie. Sometimes I still swear I hear her following me, ready to shout 'Forever!' at the drop of a hat."

Dash's wings bristled at the mention of Pinkie Pie. She knew she was being silly about all this, but that nightmare had felt so…it had felt so _real_ and she couldn't seem to get it out of her head.

"Okay, well. It embarrassing, and I know it's stupid, but I had a really nasty nightmare last night."

"A nightmare, really? I'd never have pegged you as the type to scare like that."

"Well I _don't_ normally, but this one was weird. It really freaked me out. When I was having it, all of it felt so real, like it was really happening to me. I woke up _hurting_ from it, I swear!"

"Hurting? What kind of nightmare was this exactly?"

"I don't remember everything exactly, just bits and pieces, but trust that's WAY more than enough. I remember it had something to do with Sugar Cube Corner, and especially Pinkie Pie. And I think I remember her mentioning Rarity at some point. There was something about Apple Bloom, or one of her friends, too."

"Well that doesn't sound that strange. People we know are always likely to show up in our dreams in one way or another."

"That wasn't what the problem was. During the whole thing, from beginning to end, I remember Pinkie Pie hurting me – _torturing me_. There was stuff about a, a hack saw, and there was a necklace, and my wings were missing, and Pinkie Pie was playing these really weird bagpipes…"

Rainbow Dash was on the verge of tears, and she hated it, and her anger only made the tears come faster. Twilight could tell immediately that her dear friend was scared, and she needed help. She stepped in close to the whimpering Pegasus and nuzzled her cheek, trying to comfort her.

"Rainbow, how about we move this conversation to somewhere else…and maybe you can talk this over with Applejack too. I'm sure she'd want to hear about something that's upset you this much."

Rainbow Dash felt a few tears drip slowly down her cheek and mix into Twilight's mane. After a few quick sniffles, she told her friend she liked the sound of that, and the pair started on their way towards Sweet Apple Acres.

* * *

><p>The large set of brass wind chimes were hung high. They dangled beneath the tallest, thickest branch in the tree that served as Zecora's house, and in the entire time they had been there, not once had they made a noise. This was how it was meant to be, as long as everything that was going the way it was meant to be. Even the softest tinkle from them was cause for great alarm, as it meant that things were not right.<p>

It would mean that it was going to happen again for Zecora.

But in the years that the Zebra had lived in the Everfree Forest's depths, never once had a single sound rung from those chimes. It had long become nothing more than a hazy memory for Zecora that they were even there. She had been convinced, through years of uneventful living, that the troubles that brought her there were over.

However, if she had heard them chime out even a single time, the Zebra would have packed up what she could carry, and made her way out of the forest and away from the borders of Equestria entirely. She'd regret not warning the citizens of Ponyville, but would be certain they wouldn't believe her.

If she had heard them chime…

But the day they rung out, they could not be heard. A strong wind had whisked its way through the Everfree Forest, working on its own, free from the control of the Pegasi. The wind was powerful, loud, and kept Zecora confined to her small cottage that day.

The chimes rang. They were loud and clear, but not loud enough to sounds over the cacophony of the gale, and so the hermetic zebra stayed inside her cottage, ignorant that her warning had come and gone.

The danger was coming, and the only warning anypony could have gotten slipped by without mention or notice.

* * *

><p><em>Ugh, never ever fall asleep with earphones on again<em>.

Vinyl Scratch groggily got out of bed, her head pounding. The headphones she'd had on her head slipping off as she walked towards the bathroom. She hadn't _meant_ to sleep with her music still playing, but it was just one of those things that happened. Heck, it had happened several times before, just a week ago even. But none of those times had given her such a splitting migraine.

Scratch gripped the cold water knob in her mouth and pulled it, sighing as the sink slowly filled. Once there was enough water, she splashed her face, moaning with relief as the ice cold water chilled her aching head. Taking her face out of the sink, the unicorn took a look at her reflection.

_By Celestia's horn, what did I do last night that would do _that_ to my eyes?_

Looking at her, one would have thought Scratch hadn't slept a wink that night. Her normally blue eyes were so bloodshot she could almost swear even her _pupils _looked red in the pale light of the bathroom lamp.

Though soothed, it appeared her headache was still present with a dull, almost rhythmic pounding in the white pony's ears. In fact…it actually sounded like the baseline of a song.

_Yep, I've gotta stop listening to music before bed. Otherwise I might lose go straight off the edge._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_How did that "Fluttershy" parody go again? Something like "It's 5 am and I need to sleep" I think. Lucky them, being _able_ to sleep._

Seth had been shifting around on his bed for nearly 3 hours, and he was no closer to sleep than when he'd shut off the computer. He'd tried counting sheep. He'd tried counting ponies. He'd tried counting pony-sheep and given himself a migraine. Nothing seemed to help him relax. He felt tense, anxious, like something was wrong that he couldn't for the life of him remember.

Sunlight slowly began flowing in through the window shutters.

_I just saw that sunrise for God's sake. No human with a day job should ever see the sunrise. What the hell is up with me? Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, damn you, sleep! Well, damn _me_, sleep!_

It would be another hour of slowly, angrily shifting in bed before he finally gave up on any hope of sleep and went back to the computer. Most people would have said they weren't in the mood to talk to anyone after a night of no sleep, but really, he was always in the mood for ponies.

"Time to read Past Sins for the 26th time again, I guess."

Out of habit, Seth opened up his email, figuring that since he obviously wasn't going to be able to sleep, it'd be a good idea clear out his inbox some more. The only problem was, there weren't any emails THERE. Not even the ones he'd saved for later posts. Everything was missing…except for a single message inside the "Important Messages" folder he'd made.

"Agh, don't tell me I got hacked! There was nearly 600 emails there earlier! This is gonna be huge headache. Goddamn parasprites."

He figured the message in his folder was the person responsible gloating, but it might give him some insight into who'd done it. Really, you never knew _who_ was responsible these days. Brony haters, people who didn't like EQD, people who just didn't like him, or just somebody who wanted to mess with people for kicks.

What he got was something much stranger.

The email was short, but written in a very formal manner, which made him think it was at least a troll who was clever, or witty about his vandalism. But then he got into the body of it:

_To Mr. "Sethisto"_

_ I offer my apologies for the rash nature of my actions, but I felt it was the best way to get your attention and insure you would see my message. You may rest certain that once you've finished reading this, my correspondence will disappear and your inbox shall be returned to normal._

_ I write this to you as a warning. Though I may not tell you what will happen, or what it will entail, I believe it is within my bounds to offer you advice on how you should react, if even in the most vague of ways. I know that this will not make much sense to you, and I acknowledge the fact that you have no reason to trust or believe what I am about to say. But I do believe it would be wise to heed my words._

_ The first thing I wish to tell you is that you shouldn't worry too much. Once the proper time comes, everything will be made right. This is most important, as panic will only manage to prolong the ordeal, and make things that much more difficult once the end is reached._

_ The second is that you shouldn't try to avoid him, as things will only be made harder for them and by proxy you. Again, while it is of little consequence to the grand scheme, it would make my work less arduous when the time for action comes._

_ Finally, don't try with her. This is more to my own tastes, as it shall never reach its conclusion no matter what you do. But I would find it much more palatable to not have to work her more than is necessary, and I am of the opinion that things have progressed far past the point of good taste as is._

_ I am fully aware this seems merely a group of jumbled, purposely vague and nonsensical commands, and more than likely they'll only serve as lessons to heed after the events they reference transpire, but one can always hope for a more pleasant working experience._

_ Sincerely, DD-DH_

_Ps. The horoscope joke is not as funny as you think it is._

"I feel like I just…read a really bad…horoscope?"

Seth stared at the email for a moment, reread it, and was still as lost as he had been before. If this was a troll, they certainly had a strange way of going about gloating. And what exactly was all this supposed to mean exactly? "Don't try with her", "time for action", who and what was it talking about. And how had the person known about the absolutely brilliant joke he was going to make?

A third read would likely have left him just as baffled, but he never got the chance. Just as Seth was scrolling up to read it again, the message disappeared, and an instant later someone opened the floodgates and hundreds of emails poured into the inbox.

_Well, if anything, the guy was true to his word about this part. As far as I can tell, everything's where it should be._

Seth decided that it would be a good idea to just ignore it. Whatever that message was, there didn't seem to be any damage done, and trying to figure it out on his sleep deprived brain would just give him a splitting headache. Better to wait until he had some sleep before he tried to ponder mysteries.

* * *

><p>Twilight had been sure it was a good idea to have Rainbow Dash talk to Applejack, and she was greatly relieved to see she was right. As soon as they'd arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and found the orange Earth Pony, she'd immediately known something was wrong and invited them into her house.<p>

It had a bit of coaxing from Applejack, but they'd managed to finally get Rainbow Dash to repeat the tale. About halfway through it, Dash had broken down again. Applejack had stood steadfast with her friend, letting her cry into her mane until she was alright to talk again. If nothing else, Dash seemed relieved to have gotten through the tears. Now they were sitting on the porch, Rainbow resting her head against Applejack.

"So sugar cube," Applejack said. "You got any ideas about what made you dream something like that?"

"I can't really think of anything," Dash answered.

"Ya haven't been fightin' with Pinkie Pie or anything like that? And you haven't been worried about a race or show?'

"Nope, nothing at all. That's what's so crazy about it. If I could just make sense of it, figure out just where the heck it _came from_, I think I'd be alright with it."

"Well, I think it'd be best to try to put it behind you," Twilight interjected. "After all, if it doesn't seem like there's anything behind it, I can't think of anything to do about it."

"I guess you guys are right…"

"'Course we are, Dash. Now whataya say to helping me buck some of the apples from the orchard? I reckon that'll get your mind off of all this."

"Yeah, that sounds alright. I could use the exercise anyway. It won't be long before the next Running of the Leaves, and there's no way I'm losing to you!"

As the two ponies trotted off towards the waiting mass of apple trees, Rainbow dashed turned back and called over her shoulder.

"Thanks for all the help today Twilight, I really needed it!"

"Any time!"

Satisfied that Rainbow Dash was in the best of hooves, Twilight decided to make her way to Rarity's boutique to see if Spike was still there. She needed him to take a letter for Princess Celestia about all that had happened today.

* * *

><p><em> Fire.<em>

_ Screaming. Running. Stampeding._

_ He could hear them. He could see them. Ponies running, scared, and scarred, bloody, bruised, fear in their eyes._

_ He was running too. Where were they going? Nowhere. They were running to get away from…from _something._ What was behind them? He didn't want to find out. The building next to him, he recognized it! It was…the Library?_

_ And it was burning._

_ From the depths of the flames a trio of dark figures emerged, the inferno flicking around them, seemingly unnoticed. Their eyes were solid red, unblinking, the only things visible in their pitch black coats._

_ "Where is she?" one of them hissed._

_ "We can't worry about her. Look at all the other cursed ones. We have to save them…"spoke another._

_ "I thought that Zebra was the only one, but it looks like they've got an entire village full of them, the poor dears. Where should we start?" said the third._

_ In unison they turned towards him, like a family of lions staring at a wounded gazelle._

_ He ran. Again he knew not where he was going, or what he would do if they caught him. All he was sure of was that he had to get away…get away…_

For the first time in several minutes, Seth took stock of what he was doing. He was still at his computer, staring at one of the Equestria Daily posts from the night before. His finger was still rolling the scroll wheel even though he was at the bottom of the page.

"Just what the hell was that about?"

Had he been dreaming?

No, to be dreaming would mean he'd been asleep, and he clearly remembered his eyes being open. It was like he'd been daydreaming, spaced out. And plus…it felt too real to be a dream. Dreams always felt distant, hazy. This had been so…tangible. He had smelled the smoke of the burning buildings, felt the stinging of the smoke in his eyes.

"Must be that email messing with my head, I guess…"

Seth looked at the clock, 11:46. He'd been awake without break for over 24 hours now, and he felt it. His head ached like he'd been bucked right in face by Applejack. Every thought or sentence that came to mind was slow as sludge in coming. He felt like he wasn't even _there_.

He remembered how a friend had described his view of life once, several years before.

"I feel like I'm sitting in the back seat of a car, and the car in front of mine is this large, upper-middle class SUV with the DVD player and the flipdown screens for the kids. And I'm watching through their back window as my life and the things around me are playing on that 10 inch screen."

_Well now I know how that feels, though at least I've got a better reason then "I'm a teenager and everything sucks" for my problem._

Frustrated, confused, and most importantly exhausted, Seth rose from his chair, not even bothering to shut off the monitor, and groggily made his way to bed. He plopped down on top of the covers, closed his eyes, and prayed to any deity that he thought would listen that would let him sleep.

* * *

><p>Spike had been digging for hours now, and while at first he'd been full of energy to be helping Rarity, he was starting to get tired. This wasn't even like when she'd asked him to help collect gem stones! They were just digging a hole into the wall of her basement, and she couldn't even tell him what for!<p>

"Well, Spike, I'd certainly tell you the reason if I could only _think_ of it myself," the beautiful white unicorn had told him. "But for the life of me I can't seem to remember what it was that inspired it. I believe it came to me in my dreams last night."

"Your dreams?" Spike had asked. Just what could she have been dreaming about that would make her want to dig a random hole in her basement?

"Indeed. I woke up this morning, and the thought was just stuck in my mind. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it, but a good artist has to be able to trust her intuition."

And that had been all Spike could get her to tell him. Rarity wanted him to dig a hole because…because. But heck, it wasn't like it was a raw deal. She'd offered to pay him a whole bowl full of gems for his troubles, and every half hour the white unicorn had come offering snacks and lemonade. He'd have been willing to do it for free if it meant getting to help Rarity, but sweetening the deal didn't hurt!

Still, even with all that motivation, it was getting a bit tiring. The young dragon had already dug nearly 15 feet into the ground, and had managed to keep it at a nearly a perfect 5 foot diameter. That much work wasn't easy after all! He wished Rarity would tell him he could stop, but that didn't seem likely, since she didn't even know when it would look right.

"Oh Spiiiiike," Rarity's voice came echoing into the depths of the hole.

_Heh, speak of the duchess._

"Down here Rarity! Though, I guess that's where I've been all day, heh heh."

"Hmmm," He heard Rarity sigh, ignoring his joke. "Yes, I think that looks about right! Though I can't say I know how I know that. You can come up now Spike, you've done an absolutely wonderful job today."

"It's no problem, Rarity, I'm glad to help," he called up to her. "There's just one problem…I don't think I can get out of here!"

"Oh, but of course. Let me help you with that."

A sense of weightlessness washed over Spike's body and a quick look at his hand confirmed he was shimmering. Rarity was levitating him out of there! It felt strange. The only person who'd ever used magic on him before was Twilight. Letting a Unicorn do something magical to your person was considered an act for very close friends and family, an act of intimacy.

_Intimacy…so I'm being …_intimate_…with Rarity? Uhhhh, boy. I really hope I'm not blushing. Wait, can dragons even blush?_

While he was pondering the vascular system of magical reptiles, Spike didn't even notice that he'd already been standing outside the hole for several seconds.

"Spike? Spike, are you there? Helloooo?" Rarity asked, waving her hoof in front of the young dragon's face, bringing him back to reality.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I was just thinking about something. Guess I'm a little tired after all this work today."

"Well I can't say I'm surprised. You've been working so tirelessly all day, and you've been very patient with me and this whole strange business. Why don't you come upstairs with me and I'll get you those gems I promised you."

"Hot diggity, that sounds great!"

"But first, I must insist you clean yourself up some. I've got a bath prepared on the first floor, but do be careful about tracking any dirt on the carpet."

It was only then that Spike noticed the layer of dirt that covered most of him. It wasn't all that surprising considering he'd spent the last few hours working his way through 5 different types of soil.

Spike bounded up the stairs after Rarity, trying his best not to get anything dirty. 30 minutes later he was out of the tub, sparkling clean, toweling off. Out of the corner of his eye, the dragon spotted a large shelved filled with elegant glass bottles. That was when an idea struck him.

Rarity was just finishing up the platter of gems for Spike when the dragon walked into the boutique proper; whistling in what she was sure he thought was a nonchalant way. Rarity was suspicious of anypony who actually tried to whistle that way, and her nose soon refuted her impression.

_That scent, it's so familiar. I'm certain I don't have any soap with that aroma…oh no. Please don't tell me he-_

"Spike," Rarity inquired. "You wouldn't happen to have used one of the bottles on my bathroom shelves, would you?"

The young reptile averted his eyes to the floor and blushed.

_ I didn't even know dragons could blush._ Rarity thought.

"Um, yeah, I just uh, saw the cologne, figured it'd be something interesting to try. Sorry."

"Oh Spike, it's certainly nothing to apologize about. But I have to tell you, I don't own any cologne."

"What? But then what did I…?"

"That would be my _perfume_ Spike. I believe it's my Summer's Mellow Meadow scent I received as a birthday gift from Fluttershy."

A look of dawning realization spread across Spike's face, followed quickly by an expression of unhindered embarrassment. As if on some kind of cue crafted by a lazy comedic writer, Twilight Sparkle opened the door to Carousel Boutique at just that moment.

"Oh hello, Twilight," Rarity greeted her. "What bring you over today?"

"I was just coming to check up on Spike, and see just what you had him working on all day," Twilight answered. As she approached to 2 of them, she sniffed at an unfamiliar scent. "What's that scent? It smells like…daisies?"

At the mention of the smell Spike went stiff as a board in embarrassment. Rarity, wanting to spare the poor little dragon the embarrassment of his mistake, quickly made up a lie.

"Oh, that'd be my fault darling. You see, as Spike was helping me with my work, I accidentally spilled a bottle of my perfume on him. I had him wash up to try and get the scent off, but it seems it was a bit too strong to wash away completely."

Twilight glanced between Rarity and the Spike, who was doing his best to not meet her eyes. She gave Rarity a knowing look, but decided to drop the subject.

"Well, it should probably wear off soon enough, as long as Spike doesn't go rolling around any meadows. But now that you mention it, what exactly was it you two were working on?"

"Oh yeah!" interjected Spike. "Rarity was just having me help dig into the foundation in her basement."

"Dig?" the bemused unicorn asked. "You mean for gems, like before?"

"Not exactly," said Rarity. "You see, I'm not entirely sure on the _why_ of it, but I had spike working on digging a pit in my basement."

"You dug a hole…and you don't know why?"

"That would be the gist of it, yes. I know it seems rather silly, but after all these years of designing, I've learned to go with whatever my tells me to do, and it'll eventually damn on me what to do with it."

"Hmm, fair enough. So are you two done for the day?"

"Why yes. Spike was such an industrious worker he got what I expected to be a 2 day job done in just a few hours' time."

Twilight turned to her young ward, a look of consternated concern on her face.

"Spike, you didn't push yourself too hard, did you? You have to remember that even if you're growing, you're still a baby dragon."

"I know, I know. But I feel fine, really!"

Spike's declaration was undercut by the loud rumbling and prolonged yawn that punctuated it.

"Mm Hmm, you certainly sound fine. C'mon, let's get you something to eat and a nap."

"Ooh, well I've just finished preparing a platter of gems for my little helper," Rarity chimed in. "I'll just get them into a basket to take home with you."

Spike climbed his way onto Twilight's back and slumped down while Rarity quickly levitated the gems into a wicker basket she had lying around. Twilight used her own magic to lift the basket, bid goodbye to Rarity, and made her way to the door.

"Have a nice day Rarity; see you sometime tomorrow, alright?"

"Of course darling, anytime is fine. And I'd again like to thank you for be so much help today Spike, I hope I wasn't too much trouble."

"Oh, it's never any trouble for _you_ Rarity."

With that, Twilight walked out into the fresh air and pointed her snout towards the Library.

"You know Spike, that whole perfume thing makes me think, maybe we should try picking up a bottle of cologne for you, just for special occasions?"

"Um, ah, nah," Spike stammered. "I'm not really into all that fancy stuff."

"I know, but I was just thinking it'd be good to have around, in case Rarity ever needed a suitable escort somewhere."

"Well…I guess we could give it a try."

Twilight chuckled to herself as the little dragon that was like her brother chomped into a gem and tried to play it cool.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Rainbow Dash has lost count of how many trees they'd bucked over the past few hours. Between her and Applejack, she would have sworn they'd picked half the Apples in the orchard. But according to AJ they'd only made a small dent, about maybe 1 out of 20. Doing work like this gave Dash a new appreciation of just how much of a hard worker Applejack was. It was no wonder they'd been so evenly paced at the last Running of the Leaves, if Applejack did this every applebuck season.

Rainbow kicked her hind legs back into the rough tree bark, and was rewarded with the sound of a dozen apples tumbling into the bucket at the base of the tree. She chomped down only the bucket's handle, lifted it, and trotted towards the cart that the two ponies had been dumping the fruits of their labor (no pun intended) into.

Just as Rainbow was tossing her bucketful into the pile, Applejack appeared out of the trees, her own bucket nearly overflowing with golden delicious. The Earth Pony poured her load of fruit into the pile, dropping the bucket at the side of a tree.

"Well, I reckon that's enough for one day. Much thanks for helpin' us out today Dash."

"No problem, now I'm gonna be in top form for the Running of the Leaves next month. Better watch out, I don't want it to be a _complete_ blowout."

"Like heck it'll be a blowout. Not as long as you're able to keep within spitting distance of me."

"Speaking of spit, you got anything to drink? I've been sweating a storm up today."

"We sure as sugar do. Though…," Applejack leaned her head in close to Dash, glancing from side to side. "There's something in the barn that's really special, just don't let Big Mac find out. We're tryin' to keep it a secret right now."

"'Special,' eh? Cross my heart and hope to fly-"

"Does that rhyme really work for Pegasus Ponies?"

"Whatever. I swear I won't tell a soul. So what is it?"

"Help me drag this batch of apples to the cellar and I'll show you."

So the two quickly hauled the load of fruit to the front of the barn, and were able to quickly load the apples into the cellar. Rainbow Dash worked especially quickly in order to get to this "special" treat Applejack apparently had.

As soon as Dash had unloaded the last of the apples, she flew straight up out of the cellar door to where Applejack was waiting.

"So, now that that's all settled, what's this secret you're keeping?"

"Shhhh, don't be too loud about it. It'll be easier to just show ya then explain it. Follow me."

The two Ponies made their way to the barn doors and Applejack unlocked the doors, opening it only as far as was necessary to let the two slip inside. Dash had thought the surprise would be hidden, but that couldn't have been further from reality.

The machine took up nearly half of the entire barn, and was nearly tall enough to be seen through the windows near the top of the walls. Dash had never seen anything like it before. It seemed to be a large cylinder made of glass, but behind that there was a mess of gears and tubes and wheels sitting behind it, impossible to make sense of.

"Applejack, just what the heck is this thing?"

"Not sure if it has a name. We haven't come up with anything for it yet, though."

"Your family made this?"

"Not exactly. Y'see, about a week ago I heard some loud banging coming from the barn, but just passed it off as a dream. Then the next morning, this big old thing was just sitting there."

"So you don't even know where it came from?"

"Well, Apple Bloom says she doesn't know anything about it, but I'm thinking this had something to do with her and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They always come up with something bonkers to try and get their Cutie Marks, and they probably didn't want anypony knowing that they messed up."

"So…what exactly does this thing _do_. I can't make mane or tail of it."

"Like I said, it'll be easier to show ya than to try and explain it."

Applejack walked over to the left side of the machine, and Rainbow Dash followed quickly after her. Dash saw that there were 2 hatches on the side the platform that held the various industrial implements. Applejack opened the two hatches, and dumped a bucket full of apples in one, and several mouthfuls of wheat into the other. The orange pony then shut the hatches, pressed a button that was placed slightly above them.

Suddenly the gears whirred into motion, clanking and a loud grinding sound emanated from the machine. Steam began to rise from the center of the spinning mass of metal and glass, and a pungent odor Rainbow Dash swore was reminiscent of tomato soup. As she watched, the Pegasus noticed that something was moving through the tubes now, some sort of liquid that was quickly funneling into the bottom of the glass cylinder.

The two ponies moved to the front of the cylinder, where a small pool of a dark yellow liquid had formed in the bottom. Applejack leaned down to where a small bowl was sitting below a tap at the base of the towering glass case and turned the tap, and out poured the golden beverage.

"So…what is this stuff?"

"Apple cider, but with a bit of a…kick to it."

Curious, Dash bent down and dipped her snout into the bowl, slurping in a mouthful of it. It tasted alright, but would probably taste better cold. She went to swallow it…and promptly reared back, coughing. The cider had fizzed straight down her throat, causing her to nearly hack out a lung.

"You weren't kidding about it having a kick," the Pegasus said once her coughing had subsided. "But you know…it kinda gives you a warm feeling in your stomach."

"Mm hmm," Applejack agreed. "You got off lucky just taking a small swallow. When Big Mac tried it, he about guzzled down a whole bowl of the stuff. Didn't look like he found it to his liking."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd be able to talk after that…then again Mac doesn't talk all that much to begin with."

"True enough. But I figured this'd be something special to have at the end of the day. We best finish up everything in the container though, don't want it sitting out."

"Sounds good to me!"

* * *

><p>"Three. Days. Of. This. Pardon my French, but ceci est une charge de merde! Why can't I sleep? It's a natural biological function of every organism with a brain. It's like breathing or blinking, it shouldn't be this hard!"<p>

Seth had been saying essentially the same thing every hour for the past 2 days. He was now going on 80 hours with virtually no sleep.

Well, unless you counted his continuing delusions about pastel ponies as sleeping. Which, heck, might be true considering daydreams were the closest he'd gotten to unconsciousness this whole time.

He'd had a handful more of those bizarre visions that seemed straight out of a fanfiction. First it had been the dark ponies attacking the library and chasing him. Then there had been a bear with an eye patch and a hammer, and he could have sworn he heard Pinkie Pie shouting something before he'd snapped back to reality.

Then he had been inside the library, with Twilight Sparkle, and Luna had come crashing through the window, yelling about socks…which at least told him something he needed to change. He'd been spending way too much time wading through fanart for the day.

The last one had been especially weird. He'd been inside Carousel Boutique, and from down in the basement he'd heard somepony ("Some_body_," Seth corrected himself.) screaming bloody murder before they were abruptly cut off. Then Applejack had stumbled in, uneven on her own hooves, and tried to make it down the stairs.

_Maybe I need a vacation from the blog. I could just let Phoe and Cereal cover the posts for a while. But then again, then there'd be a severe lack of Trixie posts on the site._

With a resigned sigh Seth went back to the massive trough of emails.

_The things I do for that GREAT and POWERFUL unicorn._

* * *

><p>Eric clicked send on the youtube report, chuckling to himself. That had to be the 30th pony vid he'd reported, and he was sure all the brony freaks would be freaking out all over the co/ boards later. They really didn't seem to learn about posting the full episodes with so many tags. It just made it easier to troll them

Really, he didn't understand what the hell they saw in this show. I mean, it was _My Little Pony_ for God's sake. What adult in their right mind would have anything to do with that? And plus some of them were furries, and those guys were nothing but freaks.

Here was another video, some fake movie trailer, something about cupcakes or something stupid like that. He'd seen it a few times in different comments to the videos he reported, but he never could understand it. This one was apparently about…the pink one eating the others? The hell?

"Man, these freaks get weird, don't they? What's the stakes that at least one of 'em has jerked it to this?"

Eric wrote it off as just these weirdos being even more messed up than they already were. And in the comments, he saw somebody talking about something called a "parasprite" which was apparently their word for trolling. Typical idiots, they had to come with their own name for everything, like they weren't already spreading their crap to everywhere else on the internet.

Just as he was about to click the flag button, Eric felt his entire body seize up, and bile rose in his throat. Turning to his left, he dived out of his chair and knelt with his head above the small trash can in his dorm room. He made it just in time for a fountain of sticky mess to spew its way out of his mouth.

_Holy crap, what the hell brought that on?_

After a few minutes, Eric felt fit to stand up, but he didn't return to his computer.

_Must be spending too much time in front of that thing, I could of sworn I saw my vomit _moving_ for Christ's sake._

* * *

><p>Fluttershy was worried. Well, she was almost always worried about something, but this was an especially worrisome day. It had been several hours since she'd last seen Angel, and she was concerned something had happened to him.<p>

She'd been working on splinting a squirrel's broken foreleg (Not an easy task, she'd had to resort to using a pair of toothpicks to accomplish it.) and hadn't realized how long Angel had been missing. She'd first tried looking for him around her cottage but he was nowhere to be found. Then she'd checked the various hidey holes and burrows in the fields outside of Ponyville, still nothing.

Now she was flying around all of Ponyville, frantically trying to catch any glimpse of him. It just wasn't like the tiny white rabbit to disappear like this!

_Oh my goodness, oh my, what if something happened to him? What if he's hurt and can't call out? Or he's trapped under a rock? Or if he got lost and can't find his way home? *gasp* Or if he somehow wandered into the Everfree Forest!_

The butter-yellow Pegasus was so caught up in her thoughts that it was several moments before she noticed the pink earth pony bouncing up and down at her side.

"Oh! Pinkie Pie, I didn't see you there," Fluttershy greeted her peppy friend.

"Hey there Fluttershy! I saw you were flying around looking for something, and I figured I'd help you find it! I already got…" the pink pony paused. "6 bottle caps, 4 discarded horse shoes, 16 flower petals, 7,396 grains of dirt, 458 small rocks, 18 stones, and 84 ponies of varying color and gender. By the way, what are you looking for?

Fluttershy stopped still in the air for a moment, bewildered by Pinkie's eccentricity. It seemed no matter how long you got to know the bouncy pink earth pony, or how familiar you got with her quirks, she found a new way to make your eyes cross in confusion.

"Um, well, you see I've been trying to find angel everywhere, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of him anywhere."

"Well of course you haven't seen hare of him, he's a rabbit. I'd have thought you'd know the difference between those. Unless I'm thinking of them backwards, which would be silly because then Angel's feet would be on his head and he'd have to walk on his ears!"

"Um, yes, well…do you think you could help look for him?"

"Why would I need to do that, silly? He's right over there," Pinkie said, pointer her hoof towards the fountain.

And there he was. The little white rabbit was walking on his hind legs near the fountain in the center of town, dragging something behind him. Fluttershy shot towards her little friend, swooped in, and squeezed him into a tight hug.

"Oh Angel, I was so so so so worried about you. I was afraid something terrible had happened to you. I am so grateful you're alright!"

The small bunny chittered into her ear, trying to get her attention. He struggled in her grasp, trying to pry his body out of the smothering embrace.

"Oh! I'm so sorry about that. I'm just so happy to see you're okay," Flutter shy lessened her grip. The white bunny popped out of her arms, and pointed to the object he'd been carrying. Fluttershy had been so relieved to have found her fluffy companion that she hadn't thought to see what he'd had with him. She turned to get a better look at it…and nearly fainted.

"Oooooh, pretty," Pinkie Pie said, having caught up with Fluttershy.

"P-p-pretty? It's…it's horrible!"

Perhaps it was both. The necklace was rather strange and first look, seeming both cheap, yet very well made. The half dozen unicorn horns were strung on twine through expertly drilled holes, and each one was held slightly apart from its neighbor by a small stone bead. Each horn, either through its own residual magic, or through the necklace's owner being impeccably clean with it, gleamed like crystal without a single noticeable scratch.

"What do you think we should do with this?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm not sure…maybe we should take it to Twilight, she could probably tell the Princess about it," Pinkie answered. "If there's this many unicorns missing their horns, I'm sure she'll want to get the word out so they can find them."

"Um, Pinkie? I don't think they're-"

Fluttershy was cut off as Pinkie snatched the grotesque trophy in her mouth and started on her way towards Twilight's library. Angel hopped onto the yellow Pegasus' back, and she trotted off after Pinkie.

"Oh Angel, this is so strange. I wonder what in the world this is all about."

* * *

><p>Deep in the Everfree Forest, in a clearing that usually served as the resting place of the Manticore, darkness was emerging. The signs had been coming for a long time, and even the fierce and formidable creatures of the forest had fled when they sensed it.<p>

A pitch black form lurched out of the ground, yet not a single blade of grass was disturbed as it manifested. Had any living creature been fool enough to remain there to watch, the appearance of this specter would have sent them into flight in an instant.

The creature opened its eyes, a deep, shining, red devoid of pupils. It took in the world of shadows surrounding it. It wished, no it needed to become whole, to take its corporeal form, but the sun still hung in the sky, forcing its shadowy form to remain confined to the shadows.

But soon the sun would set…and the creature and his companions would finally be whole. They did not know what had happened to reduce them to these forms, but they would soon be able to return to their rightful shapes.

And their first action would be to inspect the cottage they could see in the distance.

* * *

><p>To say Twilight Sparkle had been unnerved by the necklace would have been like saying the sun was bright. She had done her best not to show it, but the sight of…of <em>severed <em>unicorn horns made her head ache and her knees unsteady. She'd asked Fluttershy and Pinkie about it, but they could offer no more information than where it was found.

Fluttershy said that according to Angel, it had been laying in the middle of the road near the edge of Ponyville, and had been dragging it back towards Fluttershy's cottage when they'd found him. That was all they had to go on for where it had come from.

Twilight had immediately written a letter to Princess Celestia about it, and Spike had just sent it off. Twilight was sure that there would be a speedy response, especially since this meant that…that there was a killer in Equestria, a horror that hadn't been faced in hundreds of years.

"So Twilight…do you have any idea what we should do?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm not sure…but I think we should definitely tell Mayor Mare about it, so she can try to alert the rest of the town about what's going on. If there's somepony or something out there that's doing…_this_ to unicorn, we've got to make sure everyone knows."

"I dunno Twilight," Spike interjected. "Do you think it's a good idea to go out on your own, if something is out there harming unicorns?"

"It's dangerous, I know, but if we don't let everypony know about the danger, it'll be on our hooves if something happens," Twilight explained. She knew Spike was worried about her, but she couldn't sit by doing nothing while there was danger free in Ponyville. And why had the Princess still not responded?

Though it pained her to do it, Twilight decided to take another look at the necklace, to try and see if there were any clues as to the identity of its maker. She walked to the table they had placed it on and found Pinkie staring at it with a rapt look on her face.

"Um…Pinkie, what are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just looking at it. Maybe there's something we missed at first glance."

"Well, that's possible, but for now I think we should take this and show it to the mayor, she might not believe it if we don't have something to show her. I wouldn't."

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie exclaimed as she picked the necklace up in her mouth. "I'll carry it!"

Twilight would have been surprised at how clearly Pinkie could talk with her teeth clenched, were she not so disgusted. The very thought that Pinkie would be willing, no _happy_ to carry something like that was just…terrifying. Maybe it was because Pinkie wasn't a unicorn, or just that she was, well Pinkie Pie, but she just seemed so aloof about carrying the mutilated remnants of ponies that were most likely…dead.

Still, if it meant that Twilight herself didn't have to carry it, she'd put up with it.

"Alright, Pinkie and I will take this to the mayor. Fluttershy and Spike, you 2 stay here for now. I don't like the idea of leaving anyone of us being alone while this is going on. Whatever you do, don't leave here, or open the door for anyone you don't know. Got it?"

"Got it!" Spike assured her, giving her a salute to punctuate his oath. "I'll make sure Fluttershy and Angel are safe and sound! It's not like anyone is gonna dare mess with a dragon!"

Twilight couldn't help but smile at her young ward's bravado. It was clear he was worried too, but he was putting up a brave front to support her and the others. She nuzzled his forehead before heading through the front door that Pinkie had already bounded out of.

Twilight Sparkle used her magic to shut and lock the door, then she and her pink companion began galloping at top speed towards town hall, the fast approaching sunset at their backs.

* * *

><p>The Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to sneak quietly into Carousel Boutique. They'd been trying to catch squirrels in order to see if they could be Cutie Mark Critter Caregivers, but trying to navigate the trees had only resulted in getting covered in tree sap, pine needles, and leaves. Now they needed to get their capes back to Sweetie Belle's room so she could was them later, but they knew they'd be accosted by Rarity.<p>

"Scootaloo, you gotta start working on your flyin'" Apple Bloom whispered as they tiptoed up the steps. "Then you could've caught those squirrels lickety split."

"Why do I have to do it? You guys were the ones who wanted to try taking care of animals anyway. _I_ wanted to try the fireworks idea."

"And I told you that riding fireworks wouldn't work," Sweetie Belle hissed under her breath. "With us on 'em, they wouldn't go high enough to keep from scaring the squirrels, which would mean we'd have to try and take care of the squirrels anyway."

"I still think we shoulda tried it. Rainbow Dash says to never let danger keep you from doing something awesome."

"I ain't ever heard Rainbow Dash say anything like that," said Apple Bloom

"Well, I'm sure she has at some point. That's just the kind of cool thing an awesome pony like Rainbow Da-"

The 3 fillies had been so caught up in their discussion, the hadn't been paying attention to where they were walking, and as a result, Scootaloo and just stumbled straight into Sweetie Belle's older sister, The orange Pegasus immediately stepped back after seeing the glare of the purple-maned unicorn, but the damage was already done. There was a large orange splotch of sap on Rarity's foreleg.

"Oh my word! You 3 are absolutely filthy!"

"Well, I think that's our cue to leave," Apple Bloom spluttered out. Then before Rarity or Sweetie Belle could react, the other two Crusaders were speeding down the stairs so quickly that soon all that was left were their capes and 2 pairs of sticky, orange hoof tracks.

"Um, Hi there, sis!" Sweetie Belle greeted Rarity, trying to put on her most innocent smile. "We were just playing out in the woods and we uh, got a little…"

Sweetie Belle trailed off as she saw the stern look on Rarity's face. Dejectedly, Sweetie Belle broke eye contact and sighed.

"Bath time?" She asked.

"Bath time," Rarity responded.

In what seemed like no time at all, Sweetie Belle found herself chin deep in soap suds, her sister levitating a loofa to scrub behind her ears. Sweetie didn't necessarily hate baths, but she did hate having her older sister bathe her like she was still a baby. Sure, she didn't have her Cutie Mark yet, but that didn't mean she wasn't able to take care of herself!

"Sis, I don't need you to do that! I'm not a little kid!"

Rarity was about to tell her little sister that that's _exactly_ what she was, but thought better of it. The designer could remember how overexcited and eager she herself had been to grow up, to get her cutie mark.

"Oh I know that, Sweetie, but I just worry about the danger you could get into with these wild plans you 3 come up with. It's one thing to be running after some animals, but it's another entirely to be contemplating trying ride pyrotechnics!"

"Well how else am I supposed to get my cutie mark then?"

"For the millionth time, you don't need to do anything. It's about doing what your instincts tell you, not about trying to force it to happen."

"That's what _everybody_ says, but that doesn't make waiting any easier."

The young unicorn lowered herself into the water up to her nose, pouting. Rarity could relate to that sort of frustration. To try and figure out a problem you only knew half of, to try and manufacture inspiration on demand.

"Just…promise me you and the others won't try anything dangerous? I worry about what will happen to you," Rarity asked her sibling, nuzzling the young pony's horn.

"Yeah…I promise, sis."

* * *

><p>Five days.<p>

Five absolutely insufferable, torturous, awful, insanity-inducing days.

Seth hadn't had one _wink_ of sleep in the last 5 days, and now the visions were coming every few minutes, flowing from one to the next without any sense of continuity or meaning. His head was filled with visions, sounds, smells, and textures of pastel ponies, burnings towns, blood, gore, darkness, and Scottish accents.

Now the brief moments of clarity seemed like the delusions, of a world that didn't exist anywhere but in his head, a world that actually made some kind of sense. Was the computer in front of him now real? Was he still working on the site? What the hell was wrong with him? What the hell was _right_ with him?

Another vision was coming…

_Or is this one just ending?_

_ It was…calm. That was new. Every other time he'd visited (returned?) things had been in chaos. But this time there was no calamity, no darkness, no malevolent forms making their way towards him, no pools of blood for him to drown in. It was just…_a field.

A field as far as he could see, a slight breeze rustling through his mane (_my what?_). He could smell the grass around him, feel the dirt give way, then hold beneath his hooves (_hooves?_).

He saw the sun in the sky before him, the deep red orb being guided down by Princess Celestia, and he knew it was time.

Seth nestled himself into the grass, putting his forelegs beneath his torso, closed his eyes.

Had anypony come across him, they would have perhaps been confused by the red-maned, yellow unicorn sleeping in the outskirts of Ponyville, but they would not have suspected the truly abnormal nature of the creature they saw.

But nopony would come to find him that night, and Seth was allowed to sleep until morning, when the crack he'd slipped through would begin to widen.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Hey, Fluttershy, I just thought of something," Spike said to the yellow Pegasus. The two of them had been waiting (along with angel) for Twilight and Pinkie to return. It hadn't been very long since the pair of ponies had left, but in the intervening time, very little in the way of conversation had occurred. In fact, this was the first time either had spoken for over 10 minutes.

"What is it Spike?"

"Well, whoever made that necklace; they're going after unicorns, right? Well doesn't that mean that Rarity might be in danger!"

"Oh my, I didn't think of that!"

"So, don't you think that, you know, we need to warn her?"

Fluttershy lowered her head, conflicted over what to do.

"I don't know Spike, Twilight said we absolutely shouldn't leave here…but then Rarity's boutique isn't far from here…but she's probably already safe inside…oh I just don't know!"

Spike was itching to go. He knew that he'd promised Twilight that they'd stay put…but surely it would be okay if they were going to try and warn their friend. They couldn't just wait for her to eventually find out, especially if there was something endangering unicorns. After all, there were _two_ unicorns that lived in Carousel Boutique!

"Listen Fluttershy, how about we head over to Rarity's place, warn her about it, if we go quick we'll be back before sundown, and they'll know to be on their guard."

"B-but what about if it's gets dark before we can get back?"

"I can leave a letter for them, so they'll know where we went. Come on, Rarity's your best friend, we can't just leave in the dark about something like this!"

"Oh…okay!" Fluttershy conceded. She _was_ worried about Rarity, but they would be putting themselves in danger doing it, or maybe even lead the…the _killer_ straight to Rarity and Sweetie Belle.

Spike pulled out a sheet of parchment, scribbled a quick note explaining things in case Twilight came back before they did, and then he was ready to go. The dragon opened and exited the door, followed warily by the yellow Pegasus and her rabbit, before closing and locking the door.

They were halfway there when they ran, quite literally, into Applejack. For the sake of quickness, Spike had taken to riding on Fluttershy's back as she galloped, much to Angel's displeasure. The timid Pegasus had been galloping full-pelt towards Carousel Boutique, nervous now that they were out in the open, and hand rounded a corner too quickly, smacking straight into Applejacks flank, sending Spike and Angel tumbling off the pink-maned pony's back.

"Woah-ho, there!" Applejack shouted, turning around. Fluttershy couldn't be sure, but she would have sworn Applejack seemed to be wobbling where she stood. "Well hello there Fluttershy, didn't know you cared."

"Oh, Applejack, I'm so sorry," Fluttershy said. Had she imagined it, or had Applejack's speech slurred a bit when she spoke? "But it's good we ran into you, we need to warn you too!"

"Warn me? Warn me 'bout what?"

"It'll take too long to explain here," Spike interjected. "Right now we just need to get over to Rarity's place, and quick!"

"Um, well, I guess that's alright. I was actually gonna head home, but if'n it's an emergency I suppose I can wait."

"Alright!" the dragon dragon as he reclaimed his spot on Fluttershy's back. "Now let's get going!"

As Fluttershy started her gallop up again, Applejack tried her best to keep pace. Usually she'd have had no problem keeping up with Fluttershy, but she and Rainbow Dash had indulged a little too much on the cider. It made her unsure on her hooves, and a bit loopy when it came to putting thoughts into words. Though she'd handled the stuff better than Rainbow, who had left for her home with what seemed like a permanent case of the hiccups.

Still, it seemed like something pretty serious was up, and they apparently needed to let Rarity know, so she'd just have to do her best to keep up.

* * *

><p>The 3 dark forms were restless, weary of their confinement to the deepest shadows. But they knew that it was only a short time before the sun would set, and beneath the pale, week light of the waning moon, they would be able to rise to their true forms.<p>

"Greyhoof," one of them hissed. "What happened to us? To the rest of the town?"

"I do not know, Three Leaf," Greyhoof answered. "But we shall soon find out. One thing does seem certain; our curse has still not lifted. It appears even our dissolution will not free us from the darkness of that horrible mark."

"What should we do when we are freed?" asked the third. "We cannot simply remain here and hope things return to normal."

"I know that full well Roneo, but this is still an uncertain place. What we shall do when the moon rises, is to investigate that cottage in the distance. If nothing else, perhaps somepony there can tell us where we are."

"You don't think…_she_ has arrived here too, do you?" asked Three Leaf.

"I don't know, but if she has, we will stop her from spreading her curse, and stop her from torturing us any further."

* * *

><p>Twilight and Pinkie had almost made it to the town hall when they were stopped by a crashing blue and white blur. Twilight was slammed to the ground by their sudden visitor, and took a moment to regain her footing. The blur turned out to be none other than Ponyville's resident DJ, Vinyl Scratch, and she seemed extremely out of sorts.<p>

The white unicorn smacked her front hooves onto her forehead, rolling on the ground, a look of confusion pain on her face. Her nearly omnipresent goggles were askew, showing at least one incredibly bloodshot eye.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Scratch was shouting as she writhed. "Every single second! All day!"

"Scratch! What's wrong?" Twilight asked. Had Scratch been attacked by the killer? She seemed to have her horn intact, so perhaps she'd escaped? "Are you hurt? What's going on?"

"Aaarrgh, it's the damn thumping. It's constant! It's awful! That's not how you work a bass line! Why the hell are there so many damn extraneous elements? What the hell is your problem with cohesion?"

Twilight didn't know what to take from that. Was Scratch sleepwalking? She was talking like she was dreaming…no, like she was having a nightmare.

"All day with it! It's constantly thump thump thump thump thump thump thumping! It won't stop! It won't leave me alone! Graaaaaagh!"

"Scratch, I don't know what wrong, but you need to get inside immediately! There's something dangerous out tonight, and it could be roaming the streets of Ponyville!"

The Unicorn was beating her head against the ground now, screeching her pain filled screams into the dirt. Twilight didn't know what was wrong with her, or how to help her, but she also knew she couldn't stay around here while there was a possible killer on the loose in town.

"Darn it, we don't have time for this. Pinkie, I need you to-"

Twilight trailed off as she turned to where Pinkie Pie had been just a moment before, only to find herself and Scratch alone in the middle of the street.

"Pinkie? Pinkie Pie! Where are you?"

No answer.

"What do I do now?"

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash wasn't entirely sure how the logistics of getting up to her house would work that evening.<p>

Normally it was nothing that even took thinking about. She would just fly straight up from the road. But…that wouldn't work tonight. After nearly 3 bowlfuls of the cider shared between her and Applejack, she was feeling…wobbly.

"_Wobbly" is a word, right?_

She'd only made it back the road below her cloud castle thanks to Applejack walking beside her. It seemed the Earth Pony had a bit more of a tolerance for the Cider, and she'd acted as a crutch for Dash to lean on during the walk. But if Dash was unstable on her hooves, she was an absolute disaster in the air.

After 4 separate attempts to fly straight, all she'd managed to do crash hard enough to knock her eyes temporarily out of focus, get a ton of dirt clotted in her mane, and gain a sore ear. At this point she was seriously considering sleeping on the ground for a few hours, and hope she could sleep the wooziness off enough to get up top. It wasn't out of the question, since the sun was only just touching the horizon, and it wouldn't be very dark for at least a few more hours.

After all, it wasn't like there was anything dangerous in Ponyville.

So the blue Pegasus settled herself down into the grass, turned her head away from the son, and closed her eyes.

"Hiya Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow would have jumped regardless, as anypny would when suddenly hearing a voice when they thought they were alone, but this was different. She'd thought she was past it, that the nightmare was lost like any bad memory, but hearing that voice had brought everything rushing back.

The darkness. The restraints. The "hack" saw. The cupcakes.

The necklace.

The necklace wasn't just a memory anymore, it was there in front of her. Hanging, just as it had in her dream, around Pinkie Pie's neck, just inched below the pink earth pony's smiling face.

From the amount of light, it couldn't have been more than half an hour since Dash had set herself down for a nap, but that didn't really register. She was too concerned with the pony in front of her.

Rainbow Dash felt sweat, cold as ice, come across her body. Her ears reared back out of instinct. Her pupils dilated. Her heart was beating 1000 miles a second. Pinkie either didn't notice, or didn't care.

"Whoopsie, didn't mean to scare you. I just saw you sleeping out here, and I wanted to make sure you were alright. At first I thought maybe you had gone to sleep in your house and then you'd fallen out of bed, and then out of the cloud, but that didn't make sense. After all, you'd have to be a really heavy sleeper to sleep through that, so then I thought… are you alright Rainbow Dash? You didn' t_ really _fall out of your house did you? That would just be embarrassing."

Rainbow Dash didn't know what to say. She couldn't think of anything except…except…

"P-Pinkie Pie, where…where did you get that…that necklace?"

"Oh, this thing?" Pinkie looked down to admire the necklace. "Well, Fluttershy found it today, isn't it pretty?"

"Pretty? Pinkie, those are _unicorn horns_. Those are from _ponies_!"

"Psh, I know that silly! That doesn't mean it can't be pretty! That's like saying a coat made from skin couldn't still look good!"

"It can't!"

"Hmph, well I think it would be nice. I know! We should ask Rarity about!"

Seeing an opportunity to get away, Rainbow Dash jumped on it.

"Yeah…yeah that's a good idea. Why don't you go and ask her right now? I've gotta get to sleep early for early morning flying practice, but, uh you can tell me what she said tomorrow, how about that?"

"Hmmm," Pinkie Pie pondered the Pegasus' proposal. "Well, I guess that sounds alright. Though I actually need to get back to Twilight Sparkle! We were supposed to show this to Mayor Mare, but then I just felt like I needed to visit you, so I headed over here."

"Oh um yeah, well then you better get back to her!" Rainbow Dash was sure she'd break her jaw trying to feign smiling. "But why were you bringing…_that_ to the mayor?"

"Twilight said something about 'the first murder Equestria has had in centuries' was the one who made the necklace. Who knew killers had such great taste in jewelry?"

_Murderer?_

Flashes of the dream again. Rainbow Dash heard herself screaming. Saw Pinkie Pie with a knife in her mouth, felt the sting of a syringe in her neck.

"A murderer? Well then you better get straight back to her, it can't be safe for a pony to be outside on her own."

_Please, please, please just leave. I know you don't know anything about my dream but you being here is giving me a heart attack_.

"Okie dokie loki! I'll see you later Rainbow Dash, and I'll be sure to ask Rarity what she thinks about the necklace. You know how she loves accessories!"

And this that, the pink earth pony bounded away in her signature hopping gait. Rainbow Dash couldn't think when she'd last been so happy to see somebody leave. There was so much going through her head she couldn't think clearly.

_Pinkie…she had the same necklace she had in my dream! That's gotta mean something. She said Fluttershy found it, but she might have been lying. But then she said Twilight thought there might be a murder…but she didn't even seem to care! Was she just being Pinkie Pie? Does she know about my dream? What the…what in the heck is going on!_

It was too much for the young Pegasus. Too many emotions, too many thoughts crowding for attention in her head, too many theories about what Pinkie had said and done. She shut down.

Rainbow Dash found she was easily able to fly up to her home now, and despite her still racing heartbeat and the tumult that was her brain, she knew she'd sleep. If for no other reason than that she was too exhausted to dream tonight.

* * *

><p>Greyhoof, Roneo, and Three Leaf were free. They had been trapped for hours, unable to move, but now they were unhindered in the darkness of the night. Greyhoof was the first to step forward into the clearing, but the other 2 quickly followed.<p>

"Finally!" Three Leaf shouted. And indeed it was a shout for until then their speech had been confined to harsh whispers barely audible between them. Now they were able to _talk_ rather than simply speak.

"It doesn't seem she's with us," Roneo commented, his red eyes darting from side to side. "But it seems the rest of the village is missing as well. Just where do you think we are?"

"I don't know," Greyhoof answered. "But I know where we can find out."

* * *

><p>Twilight Sparkle knew she was quickly running out of time, but she also knew her conscience would never let her be if she left Scratch like this and something happened to the DJ. After Pinkie Pie had disappeared, (Where HAD the Earth Pony gone? Twilight could only hope she was alright and had just wandered off.) the purple unicorn had decided the only way to keep Scratch safe and get to the mayor in time would be to drag her fellow unicorn behind her by the tail.<p>

Scratch didn't seem to mind, or even notice. Her entire focus appeared consumed by the music in her head. As Twilight pulled her across the toad, she caught another bit of the musical pony's ramblings.

"Why do they keep saying 'hey' over and over again? What the heck is a fluttersad? Who _made_ this?"

Twilight was curious as to just what had happened to Vinyl Scratch, considering it didn't seem to have anything to do with the necklace, but the killer was more important than satisfying her own queries right now. She hoped that Mayor Mare would still believe her without the evidence, but she wasn't sure. While Twilight had never given anyone in Ponyville a reason to doubt her, the idea that they were facing the first murderer in centuries would be a hard one to swallow without proof.

"Finally!" Twilight mumbled through a mouthful of hair. She'd finally caught site of Town Hall, just a few dozen yards away. With new found urgency, she walked as quickly as she could with Vinyl Scratch weighing her down. Just as she reached the bottom of the steps, she caught sight of some movement down the street. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon now, making it difficult to see what it was, but Twilight saw enough to get an outline…it was a bouncing pink blur of a pony, but that was all she needed to see.

"Pinkie!" she shouted, letting go of Scratch's tail.

_She's safe!_

It always fascinated Twilight how quickly Pinkie was able to get around with her bizarre, hopping stride, but that night it felt like the earth pony took forever to arrive at the steps of Town Hall.

"Pinkie, where in the world have you been? I thought you'd disappeared, or the killer had gotten you when my back was turned, or…or…Pinkie, stop bouncing!"

Pinkie Pie ceased her hopping, but still wore her seemingly perpetual smile.

"Oh don't worry Twilight, I'm fine. I was just visiting Rainbow Dash!"

"What? Why?"

"Dunno," Pinkie said, looking as if this was the first time she'd so much as questioned it. "Guess I just felt like it! But why are you out here asking me questiongs? Aren't we supposed to be warning the mayor?"

"Oh!"

In her relief to see Pinkie return safe she'd momentarily forgotten what they needed to do. With Pinkie's assistance, she managed to get the mumbling DJ up the steps of Town Hall and through the doors. Apparently the Mayor had heard the ruckus, as she was already in the parlor of the building.

"What in the world is going on?" the gray-maned politician asked. "What's wrong with her?"

"We're not sure, mayor," Twilight answered. "But we have something important we need to tell you! Pinkie, show her the necklace."

On cue, Pinkie Pie stuck her chest forward, presenting the unicorn horn for Mayor Mare's inspection. As the politician took in just what she was seeing, her spectacles slipped forward on her snout.

"What- what in Celestia's name is this? Where did it come from?"

"Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie found it in the road a few hours ago. They brought it to me, and then we brought it to you."

"Well, technically it was Fluttershy's _rabbit_ that found it, not us," Pinkie Pie interjected.

"That's not important! What's important is that I believe there's a killer loose in Ponyville; Something that's targeting and attacking Ponies, or at least Unicorns, and keeping…_those things_ as trophies!"

"My word…" the Mayor was speechless. If what they said was true – and it certainly seemed true – then they were facing a danger not experienced in years, centuries even! The only action available to take would be to…

"Listen, you three need to get inside you houses as quickly as possible. Ponyville, actually all towns and cities in Equestria, have had an emergency plan set up to deal with something like this, thought it hasn't been used, or even put into practice. We haven't needed to…until now."

"What exactly is it?" Twilight asked.

"Each Town was given a special crystal, with a spell created by Princess Celestia herself cast upon it. When I activate it, every door, window, or hole in Ponyville will be closed up, impenetrable by any means, physical or magical. This is made to prevent the danger from entering any home. Beforehand, however, I will sound the alarm for all members of the Equestrian Defense to prepare and leave their houses. While everyone else is confined to their homes, they'll search the streets for any sign of the killer."

"Wow…I had never thought there was so much set in place for something like this…even a defense force?"

"Yes, while it hasn't been necessary for nearly 400 years, there has always been a volunteer police force reserved for emergencies, and this most certainly qualifies. But time is of the essence. You all need to get home immediately. I can give you 30 minutes, but then I'll have to set the barriers up."

"But Mayor, what about Vinyl Scratch?" Pinkie asked, pointing to the Unicorn, who seemed to have remained oblivious to everything they had been discussing. "Something's the matter with her, and we can't just leave her cooped up without help!"

"I'll tell Nurse Redheart to stay here, and we can but her up in the infirmary next door. But let's hurry. The longer we wait, the more danger we put everypony in. So let's go quickly."

* * *

><p>It had taken longer than they'd expected to explain everything to Rarity. Spike and Fluttershy had expected the unicorn to be surprised, and of course concerned, but at the mention of a murder, the designer had actually fainted. Applejack had been surprised too, but she'd taken it better. Spike had explained the rest of the story to the orange earth pony while Fluttershy had coaxed Rarity back into consciousness.<p>

"Hmm, this is mighty strange. To think that there'd be something like that going on in a little ol' town…" Applejack said as she lowered herself to the ground. While the fright of what she'd heard had helped sober her up, she was still uneasy on her hooves, and the room had begun to tilt for her.

"Oh my…" Rarity said, cradling her head in her hooves. "I must say…that was more than a bit of a shock. I'm so sorry to have, um, checked out, for a moment, but please continue."

"Well, there's not much else to tell," Spike said, taking the chance to sit next to Rarity. "Twilight and Pinkie went to take the necklace to Mayor Mare, and see what she can do to get the word out and keep everypony safe."

"Well, that's a nice plan, but I have trouble believing there's much the mayor could do at this hour," Rarity responded. She still felt a bit lightheaded after her fainting spell, but things were quickly coming back into focus. "It's not as if they have some magical system set up to-"

"ATTENTION CITIZENS OF PONYILLE," said the Mayor's voice, resounding inside the head of each of them. It suddenly felt to each of them that the mayor was speaking directly to them, though it was clear that the others could all hear it.

"THIS IS AN EMERGENCY BROADCAST. I'M USING A SPECIALIZED PAGING SYSTEM RESERVED FOR SUCH EVENTS. I AM SENDING THIS MESSAGE TO ALERT YOU ALL THAT THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF A KILLER LOOSE IN PONYVILLE."

"Welp, sounds like they got the word to her," Applejack said, kneading her forehead with her head. The mayor's message wasn't helping clear her head of the cider. Applejack made a mental note to avoid that machine like the plague.

"I KNOW THIS IS UNSETTLING NEWS, AND I DO NOT MAKE THIS STATEMENT LIGHTLY. IN EXACTLY 10 MINUTES, A MAGICAL BARRIER WILL GO INTO EFFECT, SEALING ALL ENTRANCES AND EXITS. THESE WILL REMAIN UNTIL EFFECT UNTIL IT IS DEEMED SAFE TO RE-ENTER THE STREETS. I AM INSTRUCTING ALL MEMBERS OF THE EQUESTRIAN DEFENSE FORCE TO EXIT THEIR HOUSES AND MAKE THEIR WAY TO TOWN HALL.

"AND I BEG EACH AND EVERY CITIZEN OF PONYVILLE TO REMAIN CALM, ATTENTIVE, AND MOST OF ALL SAFE."

The connection was cut just as suddenly as it had been created, leaving the three ponies, one dragon, and one white rabbit in silence for a motion.

"Equestrian Defense force?" Fluttershy asked to the room. "I've never heard of that before."

"I have, kinda," Applejack stated. "Bic Macintosh mentioned it a few times that he'd joined up a few years back. I think it's a volunteer thing, and a lot of the stallions around town sign up for it. But they've never been called out before. I guess it really is getting dangerous out there."

"Yeah," Spike said. "I just hope they're alright out there…wait a minute!"

Spike jumped up from his spot on the ground, accidentally knocking Rarity over in the process.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked, cringing at the dragon's sudden movement. She was already on edge with all this business, and Spike's excitement wasn't helping matters a single bit.

"She said that they were gonna be shutting everybody inside in 10 minutes! That means we won't have enough time to get back to the library!"

"Oh my…I didn't realize…and that means Twilight will be all alone!" exclaimed Fluttershy.

Realization dawned on Applejack, and she let out a gasp.

"That means I'm not gonna be able to get back to my house! And with Big Macintosh out with the Defense force...that'll leave Apple Bloom and Granny Smith all alone. I hope they'll be okay."

It seemed it was a conversation of gasps and revelations, and Rarity was having her turn at it.

"Oh my goodness, Sweetie Belle must be so terrified about this mess. I'm surprised she hasn't run down here yet. I'll be back to you all shortly, but I have to make sure she's alright."

And with that, the white unicorn rushed up the steps. The others were left alone, unsure of where to take the conversation. Fluttershy walked over to the window, staring out at all the lighted windows of Ponyville. Would everyone be able to get inside in time?

"Oh, I hope everypony is alright."

Suddenly, there was an ear shattering scream from upstairs that could only belong to Rarity. In an instant the rest were up the stairs, calling for her, asking what was wrong. They found Rarity standing over Sweetie Belle's empty bed, a look of pure panic etched into every feature.

"It's Sweetie Belle! She's gone!"

* * *

><p>Twilight and Pinkie Pie were both galloping towards Sugar Cube Corner. It had taken longer than expected to get Vinyl Scratch into the infirmary, with her struggling the whole way, screaming nonsense about something called "dubstep." Now they had been forced to revise their plans. Twilight Sparkle would travel with Pinkie until they reached the bakery, and once Pinkie was inside, the unicorn would teleport back to her own home.<p>

Twilight was anxious to get home, as she wanted to tell Fluttershy and Spike exactly what was going on. She sincerely hoped they weren't too scared. Spike would most likely try to put up a brave front for the easily intimidated Pegasus, but he'd be scared too, if not for him…then for her.

After what seemed like an eternity – but could only have been minutes – the pair arrived outside the door of Ponyville's famous bakery.

"Alright Pinkie, you better get in quick, it can't be much longer before the barriers set in."

"Oh, I think we've got a few minutes. I just hope Rainbow Dash doesn't fall out of her house again before things start up. She wouldn't wanna have to spend the whole night outside!"

"Fall out of her…wait, I remember now. You said to talk to Rainbow Dash, but why?"

"Like I said, I just felt like I _needed _to. Sorta like my Pinkie Sense, 'cept without the twitch-a-twitch. Though, she did seem pretty weirded out about the necklace."

"I imagine she would be, it's a pretty disturbing sight."

"Pft, you all don't know what's stylish. But I don't think that was it. I think it's because she recognized it from her dream."

_That's right! She did mention something about a necklace when she was recounting her dream. But wait…_

"Her dream?"

"Oh, didn't she tell you about it?"

"Well, yes, she did, but I didn't think she'd tell _you_ about it!"

"You know, you can be so strange sometimes. Of course she didn't need to tell me about it. I was _there_ after all."

And without further ado, the Pink Pony cantered into the bakery and closed the door behind her.

Twilight Sparkle was perplexed to say the least. While Pinkie Pie had always been a bit strange, she had never been this obtuse. It seemed like anything asked of her only resulted in new, more confusing queries.

But she didn't have time to try and make sense of Pinkie's eccentricities. Twilight needed to get home, and fast. Concentrating all of her attention towards her library, she channeled her magic into her horn, closed her eyes, and was engulfed in a flash of white light. When she next opened her eyes, she was in the dark center of the tall tree she called home.

Dark…where were Spike and Fluttershy?

Using her magic to light the dark hollow tree, she found herself alone, but spotted a note tacked to the door. Reading it quickly, she realized why she was alone. It seemed they hadn't returned yet, and from the looks of the time, they wouldn't be making it back to the library in time. This seemed simple enough; she'd teleport to Carousel Boutique, and spend the night there. She was sure Rarity wouldn't mind.

It seemed fate had different plans that night, for just as the young unicorn was preparing herself for the trip, she felt a rush of magic waft around her, heard the locks of every window and door in the library click closed.

The barriers had been set up, and there was no way to get out at all. For several moments Twilight Sparkle stood there in the semi-darkness, unsure of what to do.

Finally, she walked up the steps to her bed, snuggled into the bed, and tried her best to prepare for the long, dark, lonely night ahead of her.

* * *

><p>The night was dark, cold, and made the unicorn both thankful for and frustrated with her heavy black cloak. One the one hoof, it kept her warm in the piercing cold wind…for the most part. However, it also pulled her back like a chute, making her journey all the more tiresome and long.<p>

She'd have preferred her cape, as the light fabric was magically endowed with a magic to keep her insulated from even the bitterest of chills. But the starry pattern was something she couldn't handle right now…too many bad memories attached to that symbol.

Regardless of the wind or the darkness or anything else in her way, she was going to get to her destination. She certainly wasn't the most powerful of magic users, but one thing she'd always depended on was her narrow aimed determination. When she had a goal, nothing would stop her from getting to it, and this was no different.

Trixie could no longer call herself Great or Powerful, but she knew how she soon could again. It was drastic, sudden, and made little sense even to her, but she knew her goal.

_Twilight Sparkle, I'm going to find you, and when I do, you'll get what you deserve._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Seth felt he'd never seen a sunrise more beautiful. For the first time in nearly a week, he felt _rested_. The constant thrumming, aching, pounding of his head was completely gone, almost as if it had never been there. He was so relaxed, so calm and serene, that it was a few minutes before he realized where he was.

But when he did, numerous questions came to mind at once.

_Why am I in a field? Where the hell did I go last night? Why does my hair no longer feel like I haven't washed it in days. Why does my horn hurt? Wait…since when do I have a horn?_

It was then that Seth truly took in his appearance. The body he saw when he turned his neck was that of a yellow, red-maned pony, complete with tail, hooves, and a…companion cube Cutie Mark? Tentatively, he raised his right hand – correction, his _hoof_ – to his forehead, and felt it connect with a protruding unicorn horn.

For several seconds the young…pony…sat there in the field, staring into space, trying to make sense of this…what did you even call it? Transformation? Hallucination? Mental breakdown?

Finally, after a long time of pondering, he came up with the only thing to say to this kind of situation.

"What."

* * *

><p>Rarity felt the pulse of energy when the barriers went down, and before any of the others could stop her, she had bolted down the stairs and out the front door. She knew where her first visit would be, the library.<p>

As soon as she reached the library she began hammering on the door, calling for Twilight Sparkle. The normally prim and proper unicorn would never have acted like this under normal circumstances, but it had been all night that she'd been trapped inside, unable to tell if Sweetie Belle was safe or not, or even how she had gotten outside.

As soon as she'd discovered her little sister was missing, Rarity had tried to immediately head out to look for her, but the others had gotten in her way, told her to think about it. They'd said Sweetie Belle would be smart enough to get inside after hearing the warning; that she was likely at the homes of one of the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, but none of that had mattered. All Rarity was concerned about was that Sweetie Belle was missing, and there was a killer on the loose. If the barriers hadn't been set up, she would have spent the entire night looking for her beloved sibling.

But they had, and thus Rarity had spent the entire night fraught with worry, her mind going over horrible possibility after horrible possibility. What would the killer do to her baby sister? What if the young unicorn ran into an even worse danger? What if she stumbled into the Everfree Forest? The entire night had passed this way, and now Rarity needed the quickest way to find Sweetie possible; Twilight Sparkle's magic.

After what felt like an eternity, Rarity heard the door's lock unhinge, and ceased her banging. Twilight opened the door, took one look at the frazzled expression of her friend, and immediately knew something wasn't right.

"Rarity! What's wrong!"

"It's Sweetie Belle! I went to check on her last night when I heard about the killer, and she was missing! I was stuck inside after the barriers went up, and she's been out there all alone all night! I just know something horrible has happened, and I need your help to find her!"

"Of course, what can I do to help?"

"Well, I don't know if it's possible, but Spike had mentioned last night you had been looking up tracking spells recently, and I was hoping you could use something like that to find Sweetie."

"Hmm," Twilight contemplated as she let Rarity in. She _had_ been looking into a spell that could find and track a target, but she hadn't yet put it into practice, and she usually liked to have a good amount of experience with trial runs before she tried anything seriously. But this was any emergency, and the least she could do is try.

"Well, I'll have to consult my magic books, but I can at least attempt it."

Twilight levitated a book off of one of the high shelves of the library and opened it up to page 2,217, the section on remote magic. She quickly found the passage dealing with tracking magic and tried to keep the focus on the text, not an easy task with Rarity nervously looking over her shoulder. Finally though, she felt she had the text committed to memory.

"Alright, just let me try…"

Twilight's horn began to shimmer with magical light, an aura of pulsating, wavering energy growing steadily around her forehead. The unicorn muttered Sweetie Belle's name 3 times, envisioning the filly in her head as the book had instructed. In an instant there was a loud bang, and the energy dissipated from around the purple pony.

At first she was afraid the spell had failed, and turned to Rarity to tell her as much, but the white unicorn wasn't looking at Twilight, she was looking above her.

Turning her gaze upward, twilight saw there was a glowing ball of light hovering a few feet above her head.

"It worked!" Twilight shouted. "Now we just follow that thing to find Sweetie Belle."

Rarity was relieved…at least a little bit. This meant they could find her sister, but it was no guarantee the little pony was safe.

Almost faster than the ponies could react, the ball of light began moving. It shot out the door, and without missing a beat the pair of unicorns was right behind it. They had to practically gallop to keep up with it, but that was fine as far as Rarity was concerned. The faster they ran, the sooner they'd find Sweetie.

The light led them through nearly all of Ponyville in a mad dash that surely would have resulted in collision if the streets weren't empty. It seemed that even though the barriers being removed meant the streets were likely safe, most ponies were still hesitant to emerge from the safety of their houses.

After several minutes of furious running, the light began to slow down some, which Twilight took as a sign that they were getting close to Sweetie's location. The light seemed to be taking them towards Sweet Apple Acres…which made sense. Sweetie Belle would likely have tried to stay with Apple Bloom that night, or perhaps Cutie Mark Crusaders had an impromptu sleepover.

Sure enough, the light led directly to the doors of the Apple family's barn. The tracer, unaffected by the closed doors of the building slipped through the wall without stopping. Using her magic, Rarity flung the doors open wide and sped into the building.

The site that greeted them was anything but what Rarity had expected.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were standing in the middle of the barn, looking just as confused as Rarity felt, watching as Sweetie Belle sped around the room, followed intently by the tracer light. For the moment, Rarity was so elated to just know Sweetie Belle was alright that she didn't even wonder just how this had all come about.

Sweetie Belle tripped and the tracer made contact wither her tail, then disappeared into non-existence. It was only after this spectacle had taken place that the 3 young fillies noticed the arrival of Twilight and Rarity.

"Sis! You're okay!" Sweetie Belle shouted, bounding towards Rarity. She leaned her head into her older sister's shoulder, elated to see Rarity was alright.

"_I'm_ okay? That's what I should be saying about you!" Rarity responded. "I was absolutely horrified when I saw you were missing last night! Whatever possessed you to leave the house without telling me? And what have you been doing all night?"

"Um, well…" Sweetie Belle hesitated. "You see, after I went to get ready for bed, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came and told me about this um, this thing that Apple Bloom had found in the barn, and wanted me to come and try it."

For the first time, the 2 mares took notice of the large machine positioned near the back of the barn. It was massive, intimidating, and its purpose was inscrutable. Rarity would have been interested in it…but there were more pressing matters.

"Sweetie, you're telling me you snuck out of the house without telling me, just to have a sleepover?"

"It wasn't supposed to turn into one, I was gonna come back as soon as we were done playing, but then that message came out, and we got stuck in here…I'm sorry sis, I really am! I was just afraid that if I asked you would say it was too late!"

Rarity gave a look that could curdle milk. All that worrying, all that fear that something had happened to her sister…and the little filly had been _playing_ the whole time? This was…inexcusable.

"Sweetie Belle, I want you to say goodbye to your friends, and then you are _coming home_ with me. Do you understand?"

The young unicorn knew she was in trouble, but she also knew that trying to stall would only make things worse. She quickly bid goodbye to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, letting them know she would most likely be grounded for a while, and then reported back to her still seething sister.

"Um, Rarity," Twilight said to her friend. "I don't want to intrude on a private matter, but I really hope you don't get too mad at her. It's obvious she didn't mean to make you worry…"

"I appreciate your concern Twilight, but this is a family matter, and I feel Sweetie Belle and I need to discuss her actions in private. I can't thank you enough more helping me find her, but I would appreciate it if you didn't interfere."

As Rarity and Sweetie made their way out of the barn, the sound of galloping hooves reached their ears. Looking down the road, they saw Applejack running pell-mell with Spike on her back. Just a few moments later the pony and dragon came screeching to a halt, kicking up dirt up around them.

"Rarity!" Spike shouted. "You found Sweetie Belle! Is everything is alright?"

"Yes, Spike everything is alright, for the most part. I need to take my sister home though, so we can have a…talk."

"I don't mean to pry," said Applejack. "But what exactly is going on?"

"I'm sure you can ask Apple Bloom, she should know the full story."

And with that, Rarity resumed the walk towards her house, Sweetie Belle warily in tow.

"Shoot, I wonder what's got her bridle in a bunch. I figured she'd be happy to know Sweetie Belle was safe and sound."

"She's just a bit frustrated to find out the reason Sweetie left," Apple Bloom answered, exiting the barn with Scootaloo.

"I don't see what the big deal is, so she left without asking," chimed in Scootaloo. "My parents don't even check to see if I come home from school anymore. They just leave me a bowl of a food and some water out each night."

This revelation caused the present company to pause uncomfortably, unsure of just what to _do_ with that information.

"Um guys, I was kidding! Helloooo?"

A collective sigh spread throughout the group.

"Well, Apple Bloom just what were y'all doing out here last night?"

"Well, I know I wasn't supposed to," the yellow filly said, unable to keep eye contact with her big sister. "But I wanted to show that big ol' machine to Scoots and Sweetie Belle. We had just gotten into the barn when the mayor told us about that…thing last night."

"Apple Bloom, I thought I told you not to go messin' with that thing on your own. It's mighty dangerous and we don't know enough about it yet."

"I know, but I saw you bring Rainbow Dash to see it yesterday and I thought it'd be alright."

Well, the filly had her there. Applejack couldn't very well punish her sister for doing something she herself had done, but that didn't mean she'd let the little pony off the hook.

"Well, I made a mistake, and I can't give you too much grief for doin' the same, but you definitely need to get on in the house and let Granny Smith know you're alright. I bet she's been worried half to death with all 3 of us out last night. Now git!"

After the filly had run off towards the house, Applejack offered to walk Scootaloo home, but the Pegasus declined, saying she'd be fine. Applejack didn't press the issue, though she was still unsure as the orange filly scooted off into the distance. While the barriers being taken down meant the mayor figured the town was relatively safe, she still couldn't help but feel uneasy seeing a young pony go off on her lonesome.

"Applejack," Twilight said as she made her way out of the barn. "Apple Bloom said she had wanted to show the other 2 that machine, but just what the heck is it anyway?"

Applejack sighed as she closed the barn up and snapped the padlock.

"It's a long story is what it is."

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash had been wrong about not dreaming.<p>

Well, she would have been right, if it wasn't for the Mayor's message waking her up. Until then she'd been blissfully drifting in a dreamless sleep, far from any worries about necklaces crafted from body parts or murderous pink ponies making terrible puns. But then came the blaring siren of the mayor's voice shaking her from the welcoming darkness of sleep.

She had listened to the Mayor's words, and while she understood things were dire, she Dash honestly couldn't bring herself to be fearful. After all, dangerous things were always going on in Ponyville, heck the town had nearly been destroyed on at least 2 separate occasions! At least in the real world she could act out against the danger. In her dreams though, she couldn't fight.

Dreams…

It was the same as the last time, she was sure of that, but one thing WAS different. When the blue Pegasus opened her eyes (once more waking long before the crack of dawn) she could remember every last detail of the dream. From meeting Pinkie at Sugar Cube Corner, to the "hack" saw, to watching her own intestines played like an instrument, to the final gripping dark cold sensation of death.

Maybe it was because she knew she'd had it before, maybe it was because she'd finally convinced herself it was just a dream, or perhaps the 2 restless nights had left her too exhausted for it, but Rainbow Dash didn't feel fear anymore. She just felt restless, like there was something she needed to do to let out all the pent up nervous energy in her body, but couldn't find a way to do it.

Dash spent over an hour jogging in circles inside her house, waiting for the barriers to finally come down, hoping that she was just feeling stir crazy, and that once she was free to roam the skies she'd feel better. But when that time _did_ come, her feelings of unease didn't diminish. If anything being able to wander through the skies had the effect of making Rainbow Dash feel like she was exposed.

_Darn it! Just what in the heck is wrong with me! First I let that stupid nightmare turn me into a pile of mush that makes Fluttershy look like a monster slayer, and now I'm acting like there's something out to get me wherever I go. Mare up Rainbow, you're now coward!_

Yet no matter how much she told herself to stop worrying, that irritating, nagging itch at the back of her mind, telling her _something_ was wrong. She needed something…anything to distract her. That was when she spotted Scootaloo, barreling down the road from Sweet Apple Acres on her tiny scooter. Rainbow Dash immediately knew what to do, and shot down like a missile towards the ground. Like second nature, her wings opened up at the last possible second, and the Pegasus swooped to a stop a few yards in front of Scootaloo, causing the little pony to pull back hard on her brakes to avoid collision.

"Rainbow Dash!" the little pony shouted, her eyes lighting up to see the coolest pony in Ponyville. "Wow that was an awesome dive!"

"Oh yeah?" Dash replied. "Well how would you like _me_ to teach _you_ how to do something like that?"

Scootaloo's gasp was so loud that Rainbow Dash was surprised the little filly didn't dislocate her jaw with it.

"F-f-for reals? You mean I would get the chance to get a flying lesson from _you_, Rainbow Dash, the greatest flyer in the history of ever! OF COURSE!"

"Alright then kid, then let's find a place for you to park that scooter and we'll get to work turning you into the next Great Young Flyer!"

* * *

><p>"God DAMMIT!"<p>

That was all Eric could get out before he was hunched over the toilet again, his body trying to cleanse itself of something that wasn't there. He'd already lost any bit of food that had been in his system in the first hour, and hade even stopped hacking up bile. The last 30 minutes had been nothing but dry heaving, punctuated by the occasional bought of shouting obscenities at everything.

There are few experiences more miserable and sticky than having your head shoved inside a toilet seat, your head being shoved forward by your own muscles. Making it worse was that every time the sensation of throwing up came, Eric was sure, absolutely positive, he felt something making its way up his throat, but when it came time to pass the threshold and spew out, whatever it was would retreat.

"Come out already you pile of horse co-"

And then Eric was back to the now familiar position.

_Holy mother of indigestion, I swear I'm going to remember the name of my toilet manufacturer for the rest of my life. That little logo is burned into my mind with red hot puke. Thank you Roarent & Co. for making a fine receptacle for my half-digested pizza and chips, it truly was a godsend._

And here came yet _another_ bought of retching. Just wonderful. Gripping the side of the toilet bowl so tightly his knuckles matched the porcelain; Eric ducked his head forward, feeling more and more like a cat with a hairball lodged in its esophagus. But this time it was different, the blockage, whatever the hell it was, moved faster, and didn't pause constantly in his throat. It kept going, steadily, until he felt it move into his mouth and begin to spew into the water below him.

He couldn't tell what the hell it was that was coming out of his body. It felt at the same time both rough and slimy, almost the consistency of burnt oatmeal, but it was a noxious yellow color. It wasn't bile though, that stuff was sticky and disgusting, but Eric had seen enough of it in the last few hours to know the difference between bile and…this.

If nothing else, it felt like this was the end of it. That last clump of blockage seemed to have been the last remaining thing in his intestines, not counting the possibility of an extremely resilient tapeworm. The young man leaned back, thanking whatever Greek god was in charge of the cessation of bodily trauma. Exhausted, he lay back on the linoleum tiles and rested his check against the cool floor.

_I wonder just how badly I tore up my abdominal muscles with that. Hell, I might have just shaved a few years off my life with that crap. Forget smoking, apparently eating bad oatmeal will cut your lifespan to ribbons._

The young man's thoughts continued rambling on in this manner for several minutes, until his train of thought was broken by the sound of…buzzing wings? Opening his eyes, Eric was greeted with what would be the strangest sight in his entire life.

It was roughly the size of a grapefruit, and it was the exact same color as the sludge he'd just hacked into the toilet. The buzzing was coming from the pair of insect-like wings on its back. A pair of small black stems protruded from the bottom of its sphere shaped body, and Eric could only assume those served as the…thing's…legs. The most unnerving aspect of the bizarre little creature was the pair of enormous green eyes that took up most of its body.

Eric had no idea how to react. His first instinct was to say he was hallucinating, likely due to dehydration after his extended afternoon with the toilet, but something in his instincts told him that wasn't the case. So just what the heck was this tiny buzzing monstrosity that seemed so horrendously malformed it was almost cute? And why was he so sure it had to do with his puking?

He didn't have time to ponder this much, as any rational thought was silenced when the small slit on the creature's face opened, revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp, dagger-like teeth. Rows and rows of tiny, but no less intimidating teeth filled the creature's inside, and it was all Eric could do to not scream his lungs out.

But then, he wouldn't have had time. In an instant, the parasprite descended upon him, and the last thing the young man would experience was a warm, wet, horrifying darkness engulfing him, paired with the agonizing pain as its teeth shredded his skin.

* * *

><p><em>Okay, so…I'm a pony now. Or at least I seem to <em>think_ I'm a pony. That does not bode well for my sanity. Then again after nearly a week of no sleep I shouldn't exactly be surprised I'm not of completely sound mind and body. I suppose there are worse things to be hallucinating when it comes down to it. Like that girl who always thought she saw a man in a top hat with a missing eye standing in the north corner of every room she was in._

Seth had been walking – or rather, trotting – down a dirt path he'd spotted near the placed he'd woken up. He'd been unsure of where exactly the path lead, or even if which way he should go on it, but after seeing the dark foreboding forest towards the east, he'd chosen the way that lead through the rest of the sunny field.

"Alright Seth, get yourself together. The best way to work through this is to just go with what your psychosis is telling you right now, hopefully somebody will call the cops and get you sent somewhere where they can electroshock you out of this.

"You know, it is sort of strange being a cartoon equine. Everything looks all bright and shiny. I'm kind of surprised there's not some big bouncing sun in the sky with a smiley face looking down on me or giving me a thumbs-up. And the unicorn horn actually feels kind of cool.

"Though there are _some_ changes that take a little getting used to…" Seth paused for a moment, and looked at the bottom half of his torso, with a bit of a wistful sigh.

"Man, Freud would have a field day with this one."

After about half an hour of walking and getting lost in his thoughts, Seth noticed there was a bit of change in the horizon. It looked like the path he was following was finally _getting_ somewhere. Sure enough, a minute later he could clearly make out the shape of buildings, some kind of thatch roof structures from the looks of it. It seemed rather familiar too, like something he'd seen in photos, but never in real life…

_That's not…it can't be._

But it was, and it could. Seth knew where he was heading now, and it only made him even more uneasy about this strange waking dream. He was on a direct course for the home of his favorite pastel colored cartoon mares and fillies, the pristine village of Ponyville.

_Dear Diary, today I lost my mind and imagined I was transported into a cartoon. And that I also became a cartoon because my psyche has the strangest sense of humor ever. Also, I'm still weirded out by my lack of genetalia._

Confused and wary to enter the town, but lacking any alternative, young man-turned-stallion continued on down the dirt path, and soon found himself crossing the threshold into the little village. Up close and personal, the village was far more detailed than he remembered from the show.

There was a flowerbed full of roses that sat in between a pair of cottages, and there seemed to be a busy buzzing bee for every flower there. There was a freshly baked pie cooling on a window sill, thin stream of steam billowing from its center. There was a cheeping little bird perched on every chimney.

_Okay…I'm either in Ponyville, or the most all encompassing Norman Rockwell painting in the entire universe. Heck, if this is all in my mind it might as well be both. But I wonder…if this _is _meant to be Ponyville, why is there nobody here?_

Almost as if on cue, a trio of stallions rounded the corner. Seth immediately recognized each of them. There was Big Mac, the large, red stallion with a green apple Cutie Mark. Next was the unicorn that many had dubbed Pokey Pierce, whose Cutie Mark had taken the odd shape of an open safety pin. The final member of the group was the character fans had taken to calling Dr. Whoof, due to his passing resemblance to a ponified David Tennant, and the Hourglass shape of his Cutie Mark.

Seth took all of this in with one glance, but he also noticed all three were decked out in black padded vests, what looked to be riot gear helmets, and on the right shoulders of each there was what appeared to be a night stick hung in a sheath. The trio stopped in their tracks when they spotted him, and the yellow unicorn did the same.

A look passed between the three stallions, and Seth got the feeling he wasn't exactly welcome. Big Mac stepped forward, and gave Seth a stern look before he spoke.

"You don't look too familiar stranger…you new around here?"

Thinking quickly, Seth tried to figure out just what he should say. As much as he was convinced this was all a delusion brought about by exhaustion, the sheer size of Big Mac was enough to intimidate anybody with even a modicum of sense.

"Um, yeah, I just came into town, actually. Seems like a right nice town you got here."

This only managed to earn him another glare from the large red pony.

"Yeah, a right nice little place until recently. So what's your business here then?

"I'm uh – a drifter, I suppose you could say. I just travel wherever the wind takes me, if you know what I mean, and this morning it brought me here."

"Mm hmm. Would you happen to have a name then, drifter?"

"I'm se-" Seth began, but then realized a name like his would stick out like a sore thumb to ponies used to strange multi-word names. "I'm ah, Mintberry Crunch."

_Wow, that's the first thing that comes to my mind? I'm apparently a South Park character who fights old ones with the power of cereal? Why does my imagination hate me?_

"Hmm…" Big Mac grumbled, running an analytical glare over the red-maned unicorn.

"So, um, you said this was a nice place until recently? What's changed exactly?"

Asking that question was a mistake, Seth gleaned that much from the expression on Pokey and the Doctor's faces. The shared a meaningful glance, but Big Mac stayed as unreadable as ever.

"Well, that's to do with why we're here talking to you. Ya see, we seem to have had some intruder who might pose a threat to Ponyville."

"Oh, really?" Seth answered.

_No you idiot! That's a horrible thing to say! Now you sound like you already know what they're talking about! They're going to crack your skull open with those clubs now!_

"Yes," Pokey spoke up in a rather strange mid-Atlantic accent. "In fact, the security force for the town spent the entire night searching for any sign of a suspect, but was unable to find even a single clue as to their location identity. Now, don't you think it's a bit suspect to have a sudden threat detected, find nothing, and then not 24 hours after the incident, we run into a shifty-eyed pony who claims to be a 'drifter?'"

"Um, well, I guess that kind of makes sense."

"So does that mean," inquired Whoof. "That you understand why we will need to bring you into questioning?"

"Awwww."

The brown stallion gave a perplexed look to Seth.

"What?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd speak with a British accent."

"And what exactly does 'british' mean?"

"Um, nothing, it's something to do with where I'm from."

"Well, perhaps we can find out just where that is," interjected Pokey. "Once we take you to the mayor we'll be sure to get all the information we need out of you.

_Gulp._

"Now hold on there you two," said Big Mac, putting his hoof out in front of the incensed unicorn. "I like to think I'm a good judge o' character, and this fella don't strike me as somebody we need to fret about."

"What, are you implying we simply let him go?" exclaimed Whoof.

"No, I'm not. While I don't think he's any real danger, he might know something about that necklace. But that doesn't mean we gotta go and start a mob to every stranger we pass."

The large Red pony then turned his attention back to Seth.

"You seem pretty reasonable, partner, even if you are a bit on the odd side. Now whataya say to just heading down to Town Hall and doing what you can to help us out?"

"Um, Yeah, of course."

_Not as if I have much of a choice. Even if Big Mac doesn't think I'm dangerous, refusing would all but guarantee I get a club to the head._

So, with a very large amount of uncertainty, Seth found himself surrounded by the 3 ponies, being led through a town full of cartoons.

* * *

><p>Fluttershy was so happy to finally be home. After that long night stuck inside the Boutique she had been worried sick about all of her animal friends. What if the killer had hurt one of them? But thankfully, when she had returned home Hummingway and the other creatures that resided in her home were all okay.<p>

"Oh angel, you've had such a long night," Fluttersy said as the bunny hopped off her back and into his small, cushioned bed. "You just lay down and rest now and I'll get you a nice big carrot to munch on. I know you didn't like any of the food Rarity had at her place."

Fluttershy trotted gracefully into the kitchen, a grin on her face. Even with the possibility of a killer still being out there, being able to return home to a familiar routine was enough to lighten her spirits. She just hoped that Rarity was alright. The Pegasus had seen the designer return home with Sweetie Belle, but she hadn't looked happy at all. Fluttershy had wanted to ask what had happened, but between the need to check on her home, and the stern way Rarity had laid out the "Closed" sign on her door, the yellow pony hadn't had the guts to ask.

Still, things seemed to be taking a turn for the better. Not only was she safe at home, but it seemed that the killer (if there had even been one) had moved on to somewhere else. And with the letter Twilight had sent to Princess Celestia, Fluttershy was confident that the royal guards would be patrolling and protecting the roads in between villages.

Humming happily to herself, Fluttershy reentered the living room where Angel's bed was, holding a bushel of carrots in her mouth.

"Angel, I hope you're hungry!" she said after gently placing the carrots next to where the rabbit lay.

The furry critter groggily opened his eyes, having been much more concerned with sleeping than filling his stomach at the moment. He chittered as much to Fluttershy, but she blew off his objections.

"Oh I know you're very tired, you mustn't have slept a wink last night. But it's never a good idea to sleep on an empty stomach."

Glaring at his care taker, the cantankerous bunny picked up a carrot in his paw and begrudgingly began to chew it slowly.

"Oh no no no, Angel bunny, you know that's not how you're supposed to eat! Now," she said, leaning down until her nose was put a centimeter away from his whiskers. "Eat _properly_ or I'll _make _you."

Angel froze mid bite. That was something he'd never heard from Fluttershy in any of the numerous times they'd had this argument. She would be as assertive as she could, and had once even come close to using the stare, but he'd never heard anything like that come out of her mouth.

"Oh, so that's how you're going to act?" the Pegasus asked, taking his stunned silence as abject defiance. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to _remind you._"

Before the rabbit could react, Fluttershy's hoof was shoved up against his face, forcing the carrot down his throat. In desperation, the rabbit barely managed to choke the hunk of vegetable down hole. Seemingly satisfied, Fluttershy took her hoof away, leaving Angel sucking in air in huge, frightful gulps, his heart racing so fast it was fit to beat out of the little creature's chest.

But his reprieve was short lived, as he heard Fluttershy speak from above him.

"There, was that so hard? Now let's see if you can't do the same for the rest."

* * *

><p>As the door slammed loudly behind them, Sweetie Belle got the distinct impression that her older sister didn't intend to just ground her. She'd rarely, if ever, seen Rarity so <em>angry<em> before. Sure, the unicorn had been short with her when she was stressed, or when her workload got too much, but this was different. She sensed a restless, seething anger twitching under the surface of Rarity's relatively reserved exterior.

Something bad was gonna happen, she could feel it.

"Rarity, I'm really sorry about leaving. I know you were worried about me, and what I did was wrong. I'll accept whatever punishment you give me."

Rarity contemplated this for a moment. She wasn't just angry…she was restless. There was something nagging at her insides, urging her to act out against what he little sister had done. The stress and worry she had gone through while the little unicorn was _playing_. That couldn't go unacknowledged.

_If only I knew what to do with her! I know that simply grounding here won't change anything. I have to be _harsh_ with her, or she'll never learn to be more careful._

And then it came to her. Or perhaps the idea had always been there, and it was only now she was capable of seeing it. Her unconscious mind had seen the signs and thought up a solution before she'd actively given the problem any thought.

"Sweetie Belle, come with me."

The filly followed timidly behind the purple-maned pony. She wasn't sure what Rarity had planned, but her gut told her it wasn't anything good. Still, she had promised to take whatever punishment her sister deemed appropriate, and she couldn't go back on a promise like that.

They opened the door to the cellar, and made their way down the steps. If Sweetie Belle remembered correctly, her sister had been working on something down there yesterday. Did that have to do with her punishment?

Rarity suddenly stopped, her white coat the only thing visible in the darkness. She motioned for Sweetie Belle to move forward. Following her sister's tacit order, the filly walked forward, unsure of just what was ahead of her.

Maybe it was her senses, maybe it was her magic, but something warned Sweetie Belle not to take another step. She had no idea what, but she knew there was _something_ ahead that she had to avoid. There was a danger that her sister was pushing her towards, and Sweetie's life depended on getting out of there.

But then she felt her sister's hoof on her back, pushing her forward. The little pony's hooves scrambled on the dirt floor, desperate to stop her movement, but Rarity was bigger and stronger. Sweetie Belle's hooves lost contact with the ground, and suddenly she was falling into utter darkness. As quickly as the fall had come, it ended, with a sickening crunch as the Filly's leg snapped beneath her on the impact.

Sweetie Belle cried out in pain, shouting at her sister to help her, but Rarity turned away from the pit-turned-prison, sure that this was what was necessary.

"I'm sorry Sweetie Belle, but you have to learn to respect my wishes. If that means you have to be afraid of me, then so be it."

* * *

><p>The third kick left Scootaloo's eyes spinning inside of her head. She was barely able to take a step forward before her legs fell out from beneath her, and the little Pegasus found herself splayed on the ground, nose in the dirt and ears ringing.<p>

It wasn't supposed to be like this. This was her dream! She was getting to practice flying with _Rainbow Dash!_ She should be ready to explode with excitement!

But things hadn't been at all like she'd expected. After they'd parked her scooter, Scootaloo had followed Rainbow Dash towards the fields just outside Ponyville. It had been hard at first, keeping up with the blue mare, but Scootaloo had forced herself to match pace. She refused to make Rainbow Slow down to accommodate her.

After getting to a place with clear skies, Dash had told her to fly straight up for as long as she could, and Scootaloo had eagerly obliged. She knew she wasn't the strongest of flyers (that was one of the reasons she preferred using her scooter) but she had thought she was doing good. After nearly a full minute of flying straight up at full speed, she'd finally had to rest on a cloud top. Rainbow Dash hadn't exactly seemed impressed, but she didn't criticize her either.

Then things had taken a bad turn. Rainbow had pointed to a large, puffy, white cloud, and instructed the orange filly to circle the cloud as many times as she could without losing control, increasing her speed as she went. The challenge was daunting, but Scootaloo hadn't wanted to look scared in front of her role model, and had jumped into it without comment.

All things considered she didn't do too badly of a job until the end. Scootaloo managed to make what she counted to be at least 23 full circuits before she lost control, but when she lost it, she lost _hard._ Firing out of the spiral so fast she'd expected a Sonic Rainboom to appear behind her. Heck, maybe it had, Scootaloo was too concerned with what was in front of her to notice.

She'd collided head first into her mentor and her sight when black for a moment. When she came back to reality, the Pegasus was hovering over her with a look on her face that made every hair and feather on Scootaloo's body stand up on end. She had just enough time to register it was coming towards her before Rainbow Dash's hoof smashed into contact with the left side of Scootaloo's face.

That was the first.

The orange filly went flying sideways, spinning the whole way until she crashed into the center of the very cloud that had caused the problem. Her head was woozy, and her brain had refused to process just what the heck had just happened. How could Rainbow Dash have hit her like that? How?

Things had only gotten worse than that. Dash had ordered her to get out of the cloud and get back to work, hollering the whole time. Scootaloo was too scared to speak up against the Pegasus' rage, but she was suddenly terrified. She'd hesitated, and this time didn't even see the hoof as it cracked into her chin and sent her spiraling out of the cloud and right into the ground.

That was the second.

And the third had come after Scootaloo had been too slow in getting up.

"Come on you little shrimp! You're not gonna get anywhere whining every time you get a little scuffed up. Now get! Up! NOW!"

Terrified, dizzy, and at a loss for any explanation of why Rainbow Dash was acting like this, Scootaloo had no choice but to force her body up. She thought she was going to pass out…but if that happened there was no telling what Rainbow Dash would do to her then.

One wobbly step after another, the orange filly tried her best to get steady. Dash was standing a few feet in front of her, looking like she was ready to kill if she had to wait much longer. Panicked, Scootaloo sped up, lost balance, and stumbled straight into Rainbow Dash, her nose bouncing off her mentor's chest.

She blacked out when the fourth kick struck.

* * *

><p>Seth was intrigued to see the inside of Town Hall. Of the many places that had been showcased in and out of Ponyville on the show, there were very few interior shots outside of the houses of the characters. This seemed like a fun time to get to know just what the unseen areas of Ponyville had to offer for the eyes, even if he was being escorted by three ponies who were all ready to beat the living tar out of him if he stepped out of line.<p>

The building itself wasn't much to look at all things considered, but it was still a new sight, and Seth tried to commit as much to memory as possible. After all, he knew that once he snapped out of this delusion the doctors would want as detailed a description as possible for his delusions.

There was a small spiral staircase in the far corner of the room that led upwards, an there were a number of cushioned seats, presumably for those ponies who were waiting to see the mayor. Yeah, that made sense. His subconscious would make the building try to seem as rational as possible, so he'd be more likely to believe it.

The trio of stallions led him to the stair case, and Seth made the mistake of going up between Big Mac and Pokey, meaning he had big, red, pony ass in front of him, and a pony with a horn that was named "pierce" at his back. Not a very nice combination, but the stairs were mercifully short.

The stairs opened up into a large office with a domed ceiling, several potted plants, and a large oak desk. Behind said desk was the gray-maned, bespectacled mayor of Ponyville, Mayor Mare.

"What is it?" the politician asked as they entered. "Have you found something about the necklace?"

"Not exactly, Madame Mayor," Big Mac answered. "The 3 of us were doing our patrol of the eastern section of the town when we ran into this feller here."

For the first time the mayor took notice of Seth, who had been trying his best to blend into the background scenery. The mare walked out from behind her desk and approached the yellow unicorn. After taking a good long look at Seth, she turned back to Mac.

"You found a stranger and just decided to bring him in?"

"Actually I came here on my own. They said there was a threat around here and I wanted to see if there was anything I can do to help," Seth said. This wasn't necessarily true, but it seemed a good idea to try and seem willing and helpful.

"He says his name is Mintberry Crunch," Pokey offered.

_I feel like whenever somebody says that the only appropriate thing to do is to shout "Shab La Goo!" and then fire cereal out of my nose. I wonder if I can do that._

The mayor contemplated the pony in front of her who now appeared to be picking his nose. This was certainly an interesting case. It just didn't seem a likely coincidence that the day after they found evidence of murder and mutilation, they just happened to run into a stranger.

"Tell me, Mintberry, where exactly are you from? And what's your business here in Ponyville? I normally wouldn't ask, but this is a very uncertain time, and we must be careful to protect the citizens of this town."

_Man, just what the heck is going on here that's got everypony so damn worried? It's not like Ponyville hasn't faced danger before. I mean, the entire town was razed to the ground back in "Swarm of the Century" and things still turned out okay._

"Oh, I'm from Fillydelphia," Seth lied, coming up with the idea on the spot. He knew precisely nothing about Fillydelphia outside of that it exists (in a sense) and that it was apparently attacked by Parasprites a while back. "As far as why I'm here? Like I told these guys, I'm kinda what you would call a drifter. I just go wherever the wind takes me."

"Hmm?" was the whole of her response. The look she gave him made Seth certain that she believed his story about as much as he did. After nearly a full minute of being under her scrutinizing gaze, the unicorn was nearly ready to break, but then her intense stare let up. "Well, I'm hoping that you're as able to help us as you are willing."

"Well, I'll have to know just what it is you need help with first," Seth responded, sighing internally that she at least seemed willing to not press the issue of just where he came from. "All I know from the guys is that there was some kind of threat last night, you put the town on lockdown, and had them patrolling as security."

_Come to think of it, I didn't even know there _was_ a defense force for Ponyville. And why does it only seem to be made out of Stallions? I thought this show was supposed to be feminist._

"Yes, well, that's the short version of it. You see, one of our townsfolk found a…_disturbing_ item last evening that suggested there might be a…might be a murderer in Equestria."

"A murderer? But there's never been anything like that in Equestria! Yes, there's been the occasional magical monster that threatened the life of everyone in Equestria, but never another pony that would do that!"

"I'm glad you see the gravity of the situation," she replied in an almost condescending tone. "Now, we need to know if you have _any_ information. Even the most mundane of things you've seen or noticed could help us."

"Well, I'm sorry to say but I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary," Seth said truthfully. He honestly hadn't seen anything that was out of the ordinary for _Friendship is Magic_, even if everything he'd experienced in the last few hours would be considered completely insane by human standards.

This line, at least, the Mayor seemed to take without suspicion. Instead she walked over to her desk, and beckoned him to follow. Happy to leave the rather close company of the 3 stallions, Seth eagerly did as prompted.

"This item was discovered yesterday by a Pegasus and her rabbit, and her friends soon brought it to me, in order to warn me of the possibility of danger. We have no clue where it came from, how it got to where it was found, or what its purpose is outside of being gruesome. Perhaps you can tell us if you recognize it."

Gripping the nob with her teeth, the Mayor puled open a drawer on the side of the desk, to reveal…the completely empty interior.

"Well, I don't know if I can help you identify something invisible, but I could try."

"What?" responded Mayor Mare. She raised her head to get a better look inside the drawer, and sure enough, there was nothing to see but air. "Oh my word! This is terrible, where could it have gone?"

Big Mac, Pokey, and Dr. Whoof crowded in behind them, and all gasped their shock to see the empty drawer.

"Where could it have gone?" Whoof asked in his irritatingly non-British voice.

"I don't know, but we _need_ to find it," Mare answered. "We need to get to somepony who can help us find it. Mr. Derbyshire, please head to the library and bring me Twilight Sparkle. If anypony knows a way of tracking the necklace, it'll be her."

"Right on it!" said the brown stallion, and in a flash his flank was vanishing from sight down the stairs.

Seth had a very hard time not shouting out after the pony.

_For the love of all that is holy, "Derbyshire" better have some connection to Dr. Who._

"Well, if it isn't here, could you at least describe what it is you wanted me to look at?" he asked instead. "I remember these guys mentioned something about a necklace before, and you just did the same right now."

"I suppose that's the best course of action right now," the mayor conceded. "Well, it's quite shocking to hear, especially for a unicorn like you, but it's a necklace…"

"Maybe it's a culture thing, but that doesn't sound very shocking."

"It's not a regular necklace, Mintberry."

_Shab La Goo!_

"It's…horrifying. You see, it's a collection of trophies from murders. Somepony or something has killed at least half a dozen unicorns, cut their horns off, and made a necklace out of their collection."

"Unicorn horns? Why does that sounds fami-"

Seth stopped mid word. He found himself struck by a revelation…and by an immediate sense of disbelief and dread.

_There's no way…I mean, yeah it fits, but that still doesn't mean that it's really…really what I think it is. That's just some story some guy made up as a way to try and gross people out with gore, it's not even close to canon!_

_ But…just, what if?_

"Um, I'm not sure how to say this, so I guess I'll just fall back on an old favorite. Things are about to get Grimdark as FUCK."

* * *

><p>"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, would you mind helping me?" Pinkie Pie called from the kitchen. The Cakes had working all morning to get the shop set up for business later in the day, and were a bit peeved at their live-in assistant turned surrogate daughter. The earth pony had disappeared not long after the sun had risen and the magical barriers had dissolved.<p>

Still, Pinkie Pie was always well meaning, if not always the most reliable assistant. The two bakers both dropped what they were doing and entered into the kitchen, where their excitable employee was standing with her head buried inside one of the cabinets.

"What is it, Pinkie?" Mrs. Cake asked, curious as to why they'd been called. After all, Pinkie had never asked for help cooking before, even when she should have.

At the sound of Mrs. Cake's voice, Pinkie tugged her head out from the cabinet and turned. As she faced the two ponies, the necklace of gleaming unicorn horns rattles slightly against her chest, catching the light in a way that made the severed appendages almost seem like they were glowing.

"Oh, it's nothing too hard. I just need you two to help make a batch of delicious cupcakes!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Twilight Sparkle was nothing short of confused. The explanation Applejack had given about the machine and its use was still playing itself over in her brain. Something that big couldn't possibly have been constructed in one night, nor could it have been built by a trio of inexperienced (and to be honest, clumsy) fillies.

But Applejack had seemed completely unconcerned with discerning the real origins of the device. Instead she simply wanted to ignore it until they could figure out a way to safely disassemble it. Twilight had urged her to try and investigate it, but the orange earth pony had wanted none of it.

Now Twilight was on her way back to the library, Spike riding on her back. It seemed the little dragon was getting chauffeured all around Ponyville today.

"Hey Twilight, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm alright Spike. It's just…this has been a very strange couple of days, and today isn't even over yet! I'm not sure how much more I can take of strange things."

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty weird. What was up with that necklace anyway?"

"Nopony really knows. We left it with the Mayor last night, and I haven't heard from her since. That reminds me, how did you and everypony else spend the night?"

"Holy guacamole was it awkward. Rarity was worried about Sweetie Belle the whole night. I don't think she even slept. Fluttershy spent the whole time trying to comfort Rarity, and Applejack kept getting all jittery about Apple Bloom."

"Doesn't sound like any of us had a very restful night. I spent the whole night looking in different books to see if there was any clue as to what that necklace might be."

"What do you mean? It's just a creepy piece of jewelry, isn't it?"

"It could be, but I thought it might have magical properties, considering it's made of unicorn horn. But as far as I can tell, there's never been anypony in history who thought to collect unicorn horns for anything."

The conversation continued for several minutes, with Spike coming up with increasingly ridiculous ideas for what the owner would have been doing with the horns. Twilight was just about to tell him that there was no way that the horns could be used to light somebody on fire (let alone twice) when the library came into view. There, hammering at the door urgently with his hoof was Mr. Derbyshire, the owner of the clock and watch store in Ponyville.

"Mr. Derbyshire, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked the brown pony.

"I'm here because the mayor needs to see you right away!"

"About what?" Spike interrupted.

"The security force ran into a stranger coming into town, and they brought him in to see if he knew anything. When the mayor went to show the stranger the necklace, but it was gone. Now we need your help in finding it again."

"It's missing? But, who could have taken it? How could they have gotten it without anypony noticing?"

"We don't know, that's why we need you. Now c'mon, we need to get back to Town Hall immediately. I don't like the idea of leaving that stranger with less security, even if Big Mac and Pierce are there. That pony makes me uneasy."

Twilight Sparkle wasn't sure what she would be able to do to help, but she followed Derbyshire as he galloped off.

"I don't get it," Spike said from the purple pony's back. "What's finding the necklace gonna do? And why's it so important to go after it right away?"

"It stands to reason that whichever pony it was that stole the necklace knows something about it, or they might even be the owner. If we find out where the necklace is, we find out where the killer is."

"If you ask me," Derbyshire shouted back. "It was that drifter we picked on the edge of town. He was pretty shifty about who he was or where he was from. And he even had some smart-flanked response when the necklace was found missing."

"I'll have to see this pony then," Twilight commented.

They travelled the rest of the way to Town Hall in silence, and were inside and up the steps in a flash. The scene that greeted them was nothing short of bizarre.

Twilight was immediately able to pick out the stranger. It was a yellow unicorn with a red mane. He was of average size for a young adult stallion, which was currently putting him at a disadvantage. If he'd been bigger, he might have been able to through off Big Macintosh, who was currently sitting rather contentedly on top of the newcomer.

"Will you _please_ get off? I told you that I'm not crazy! If you don't hurry every pony in Ponyville will be in huge danger!"

"What in Equestria is going on?" Twilight asked.

"This feller here is speaking a whole load of nonsense," was the answer from Big Mac. "He started going off about all kinds of crazy stuff that don't make a lick of sense, and then tried to grab the mayor."

"I told you, I wasn't trying to hurt her! You've gotta listen to me, there's a huge danger to everyone in Ponyville right now!"

"We already know that," Pokey Pierce intruded. Twilight hadn't even noticed the blue unicorn when she first entered, so focused had she been on the strange sight. "That's the entire reason we brought you to see the Mayor in the first place. And I personally find it more than a bit strange that you would begin acting even more bizarrely than you already were as soon as you found out we were going to try to find the necklace."

"Yeah!" Derbyshire shouted in agreement. "How do we know you aren't the one we're looking for? You're the only Pony in all of Ponyville that we don't know, and you just happen to show up after we discover there's a killer amongst us. And the necklace just _happens_ to disappear when we bring you in to see it."

"I don't know where the necklace is, I swear! But I know where it's from!" turning to Twilight the strange pony began speaking straight to her. "Listen Twilight Sparkle! You need to keep Rainbow Dash away from Pinkie Pie! She's the source of all of this!"

"What in the hay are you talkin' about?" said Big Mac.

"Pinkie Pie is the one who made that necklace! It's gonna sound crazy but it's true! She made it and she'll hurt Rainbow Dash if she gets the chance!"

That struck a chord with Twilight. Just how did this pony know who Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were? Big Mac and the others didn't seem to recognize him at all, so it couldn't be he was simply an acquaintance of her friends that she'd never met. Furthermore what he'd just said made it seem like he knew about Dash's dream, and that was impossible! Dash, Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie were the only ones who knew about that, and there was no way they would have let slip a single word about it.

"Just…just who are you?"

"He claims," Pokey answered before the strange pony could speak. "That his name is 'Mintberry Crunch' and that he's from Fillydelphia. But for some reason I have a hard time believing that's true."

"Alright, it's true, my name's not Mintberry. My real name is Seth, but that's not im-"

"What kind of name is Seth?" Spike asked. "That just sounds silly. At least Mintberry is a believable name."

"My name sounds strange to you because I'm _not_ from here. I'm not from Equestria!"

"Then where are you from, eh?" Derbyshire shouted. It was clear he was nearly done with any patience for this pony.

"It's hard to explain but…I'm from a different universe altogether. I'm not a pony…at least I…_wasn't_ until I arrived here. I'm really a human. Well actually, I guess you guys don't have humans in this universe. But the point is, I know what's going on here!"

"I think it's official," Pokey said, turning away from "Seth" as he did so. "This pony is obvious off his gourd, and it's clear he's a danger to us if we simply let him stay here. We need to find a place to hold him _other_ than beneath Big Mac's flank."

"Well, we could shut him up in one of the back rooms of Town Hall," Big Mac offered. "Then we can stand guard."

"Or, you know, you could _listen to my warnings about your impending doom._"

"Quiet you raving lunatic," Pokey said.

"Please just take him away," Mayor Mare said, breaking her silence for the first time since Twilight had arrived. "Dealing with him can wait a while. For now I need to talk to Twilight about finding the necklace!"

Seemingly happy to do so, Derbyshire and Pokey both quickly surrounded "Seth" as Big Mac stood up. They were quick to remain between him and the Mayor as they made their way to the steps.

"I'll have to ask you to put that…deranged pony out of your mind for now," Mayor Mare said to Twilight and Spike once the three stallions and their prisoner were out of sight. "For now, we all need to focus on finding that necklace. If somepony has stolen it, that means there's a serious breach in security somewhere."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"The only ponies who knew about the necklace are you two, your friends who discovered it, and the members of the security force I showed it to. At most, that's roughly 15 ponies. That means that out of all of them, one of them either is, or is connected to, the killer."

"I…I can't imagine a single pony in Ponyville would be capable of something like that!"

"Yeah," Spike interjected. "I bet ya anything it's that Mintberry guy. He's pretty loco in the coco if you ask me. What makes you think couldn't be the killer?"

"That _is_ a possibility," said Mayor Mare. "But I don't like counting out any possibility, even the smallest one. This is a danger that we haven't faced in anypony's lifetime, save Celestia."

Twilight gasped.

"Celestia!" she shouted, looking at Spike. "I completely forgot! Spike, did you get a response from the Princess after I left last night? I didn't see it in the Library last night, so I assumed you got it while you were at Rarity's boutique."

"Oh!" Spike answered as if it was the first time he'd thought of it too. "Now that I think about it, no, I didn't get a single message last night, from Celestia or anyone else."

This was cause for worry in Twilight's mind. While Celestia didn't always respond to her usual reports, whenever there was an emergency the princess was always quick to write back. Sometimes they even arrived just a few seconds after hers were sent off. What in the world could be keeping her mentor so busy that she wasn't responding to the possibility of a murderer?

"Twilight Sparkle," Mayor Mare interrupted the unicorn's worried train of thought. "I need your help. Is there any spell you know that can track the necklace?"

"I'm sorry mayor, but I don't."

"But Twilight," said Spike. "Didn't you use a tracking spell to help Rarity find Sweetie Belle this morning?"

"I did, but that was different. Sweetie Belle is a living thing, and she gives off a life force like any other creature or plant that's unique to her. The spell I used to track her simply identified her aura, and sniffed it out from among the rest of them. But trying to find inanimate things like the necklace is impossible as far as I know…!"

Twilight's eyes widened as an idea struck her.

"But I might know somebody who _does_ know something we could try!"

"Who," the mayor asked. "The princess? But I thought she hadn't answered yet?"

"No, Zecora!" Twilight exclaimed. "She's much more versed in specialized magic, and has a ton of books about different types of magic that I've never even heard of. Maybe she has something that will help us."

"Zecora?" questioned Mare. "The Zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest? You think she can help us find it?"

"I don't know for sure, but we have to explore any possibility in a situation like this. I'll go talk to her right now. Spike, if you wouldn't mind staying here..."

"You don't want me to come along?"

"It's not that. Time is of the essence, and I'll be faster on my own. I'll come back here as soon as I'm finished at Zecora's."

The green and purple dragon descended from the purple unicorn's back. The pair said a quick goodbye and Twilight made her way down the steps and out the door of Town Hall. She turned towards the far off entrance of the bizarre and mysterious forest, and broke into a gallop.

* * *

><p>Through the haze of pain and nausea, Angel looked around the room as best he could. The fourth carrot had stuck in his throat, and nearly killed him before he willed it down. Now he was having trouble breathing, but at least Fluttershy had moved on, seemingly content that he'd eaten them all.<p>

He hoped the Pegasus wouldn't turn around and see he'd puked up the last 2 carrots. After what she'd just done to get them in, he was terrified of what she might do to keep them there. But it seemed she was now more concerned with Hummingway, as she was staring him down, forcing him to eat a mountain of birdseed. It was clear the tiny hummingbird was facing the same trouble he had with the carrots.

"Now that's a _good_ little birdy, Hummingway. Eat it all up. I wouldn't ever want you all to go hungry. Once we're done feeding you all, I'll be sure to tuck you in for a nice long sleep."

Maybe it was the bizarre turn Fluttershy's actions had taken. Maybe it was just the way she said it with that unwavering smile. Maybe it was the way she twitched as she said it.

Whatever it was about the Pegasus Pony's demeanor that made him uncomfortable, Angel was sure of one thing; this wasn't going to end well.

* * *

><p>Apple Bloom was trying to be as quiet as possible. It seemed that was going to be key to pulling off this mission today. First she had needed to step <em>very<em> softly to avoid making the floors creek when she snuck out of the house. Then she'd had to keep low (well, considering her height, low_er_) to the ground as she snuck past Applejack in the orchards. And now, she was trying her hardest to keep the bell on the front door of Carousel Boutique from ringing as she snuck in.

_Gosh, being stealthy sure is tough. Guess I won't be getting my spyin' cutie mark anytime soon._

Still, her cutie mark wasn't what she was here for. Something in the back of her head was telling her that Sweetie Belle was in trouble, and she needed to get there before it was too late. At first she'd thrown it off as nothing, just being worried about the killer. Besides, Granny Smith had grounded her after she had come home, since she had disobeyed the elderly Pony by going out and messing with the machine in the barn.

But eventually the nagging sensation had gotten to her, and she'd resolved to sneak into the boutique and try to talk to Sweetie Belle. She knew it was risky, and that she could very well be getting both of them in even more trouble than they already were, but she couldn't keep fighting her own intuition without losing her mind.

The young filly's first instinct was to go up the stairs. After all, that was where Sweetie Belle's room was, and it was likely she'd been grounded upon arrival. But again her intuition told her different, urging her towards the doorway that was besides the foot of the stairs. Standing on the tips of her hooves, the yellow earth pony managed to open the latch, and found herself at the top of a flight of stairs leading into intimidating pitch blackness.

_This must be their basement…what in the hay would Sweetie Belle being doing down in this eerie old place?_

Her instincts kept telling her to go forward, but Apple Bloom had to hesitate. Not only was she unlikely to find Sweetie Belle in here of all places, it just wasn't good sense to try and find _anything_ inside a pitch black room with no windows or lights. There wasn't any sense in going in, but Apple Bloom did it anyway.

After several minutes of sifting through the darkness, trying hard not to kick up dust on the dirt floor, Apple Bloom heard a noise. At first the filly couldn't tell what it was or where it had come from, but then the sound returned and she _thought_ she could make out the location of its source.

Slowly moving towards the sound, she heard it again, and recognized it as a whimper. What was more, it sounded like Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom ran forward, but tripped over an object on the ground, sliding forward a few feet, stopping just as her front hooves passed the edge of a cliff.

"What in tarnation?" she said to herself.

From somewhere below, the sounds he'd been following emerged, followed quickly by a flurry of questions.

"Apple Bloom, is-is that you? W-what are you doing here?"

"That's not important right now! What in the hay are _you_ doin' down here? Why are you in some big old pit?"

"It's…it's Rarity! She through me down into here as soon as we got home! Please go get help! You've gotta get me out!"

"I'll come back as fast as I can!"

_I just hope anypony will believe me. Heck, even I'm not sure I believe it. Rarity putting Sweetie Belle in a hole as punishment? If that aint something that don't make sense, then I'm a Parasprite!_

Back up a bit from the hole, Apple Bloom slowly stood back up.

"Sweetie Belle, are you alright? You aren't hurt or anything, are you?"

"My leg's really hurt…I can't move it without it hurting. Please just go get help fast!"

But something was keeping Applejack still. She knew she needed to go, to get help and bring somepony back who could get the unicorn out of there. A Pegasus perhaps, or a unicorn, or even just somepony with a rope or something…

_That's it!_

With a quick promise that she'd be back as soon as possible, Apple Bloom crept up the stairs of the basement (after a minute or two of searching of for them) and then slowly creaked the door open just a smidgemeter or two to give her room to get through.

The smart idea would have been to get out of there as fast as possible. The smart idea would have been to head straight to somepony who would know what they should do next. The smart idea would have been to do practically anything _but _what Apple Bloom actually did, which was to head straight up the stairs.

Walking down the hallway, Apple Bloom could barely overhear Rarity talking (be it to herself or her pet cat, Apple Bloom couldn't tell) in her room. With the door mostly closed, the filly only got a few choice snatches of what she was saying.

"Out…must get it out…no…won't go away...can't, can't, can't, can't. D'aaaaah!"

It didn't exactly sound like the unicorn was in the best of moods, or even the right mind. Maybe it was possible she'd tossed Sweetie Belle into that dark hole. But that wasn't important right now. Apple Bloom was so paranoid about being heard, it took nearly 3 full minutes to reach the end of the hallway and begin opening the door to Sweetie Belle's bedroom.

It was quick work to get the supplies she needed. Both of the bed sheets, as well as the numerous other blankets and pillowcases off of Sweetie Belles bed would make the perfect material for a makeshift rope to take home though she would also have to take the curtains to keep it totally secure.

This, at least, was something Apple Bloom could wrap her mind around. While the bizarre, nigh insane situation made her head ache just to try and contemplate, working with her hooves to makes something, even such a crude object as a rope of sheets, was something that could calm her.

If she was being honest, she already had a good idea of what her Cutie mark could be related to. She'd been trying more and more with numerous crafts and projects, and liking it a lot, but she had needed to hold herself back. She had dreaded what would happen if she ended up getting her Cutie Mark before her other friends.

What had started out as just her trying to avoid embarrassment had become trying to keep pace with her friends to avoid losing them. It was hard though. When you found something you enjoyed, it was hard to tell yourself not to practice it, and Apple Bloom wasn't sure how much longer she could keep things up this way before it all came to a head.

Apple Bloom was so lost in her own thoughts about her friends and her future that she barely realized that she was done with the rope. It was about 20 feet long in total, with a loop at the end to act as a harness for Sweetie Belle. If the unicorn was injured, she wouldn't be able to hold on very well to the end of a rope, thus making a semi-harness to make things easier to manage.

The orange filly was still uneasy about actually going through with her plan. The idea had come to her when she was going to leave, but it didn't feel like a _good_ plan. It was just like how she'd gone into the basement. Her conscious mind was telling her not to try this, that it wouldn't work and would only waste time that could be spent getting actual help. Her unconscious mind, on the other hoof, was telling her that this was what she was _meant_ to do.

It was strange, trying to follow an instinct that went against anything logical she could come up with, but it _had_ led her to find Sweetie Belle when she probably never would have without it.

With the rope coiled securely around nearly the entire length of the her body, Apple Bloom returned to the slow, silent pace that had carried her through the Boutique since she'd arrived.

_You know, I bet this is what a turtle feels like! It's gotta be awful to have to move like this. How do they even get anywhere?_

Passing by Rarity's still open door, Apple Bloom was treated to yet another bought of the unicorn's bizarre ramblings.

"Oh but I couldn't…there'd be blood everywhere! But then…if I tried fire…yes, that might work…where are my matches?"

Apple Bloom sped up at that. She didn't know what Rarity had planned that involved fire, but there was no way it could end well. Shortly after she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Apple Bloom heard a sharp scream from up above, but didn't dare to hesitate there. Abandoning her stealth approach altogether, the earth pony ran down into the dark basement. It was strange. Now that she had a plan, no matter how poorly thought out it was, she felt better this time around as she delved into the darkness.

"Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom called out into the basement.

"Apple Bloom! I'm over here! That was fast! Who did you bring?"

"Er, well, ye see…I didn't bring anypony. But I got a way to get you out. I'm about to toss a rope down towards ya, and It'll have a loop you can slip into. Then I'll pull you up. We better hurry though; I think Rarity's doing something right now."

To punctuate the urgency, they heard a horrible, bloodcurdling scream from above their heads. Apple Bloom didn't know what Rarity was doing, and frankly she didn't want to know. This whole affair had her sweating, paranoid, and…

_Hungry_ she thought as her stomach grumbled.

_All the more reason the get the hay out of here all the sooner, if ya ask me._

Apple Bloom tossed the loop of bed sheets and blankets into the hole as she found it, and when she heard a light thump as it landed at the bottom. After a few seconds of shuffling sounds emerging from the black pit, Sweetie called up that she was ready and secure.

This was where all the farm work Applejack had made her do would paid off. The tiny pony gripped her end of the rope in her teeth, and began pulling as she stepped backwards. Sweetie Belle was heavier than she'd expected, but it seemed she'd be able to manage.

Sure enough, after a hard minute of tugging, Sweetie Belle's bright white became the only visible thing in the basement as she crested over the edge and reached the edge. Huffing and puffing from the exertion.

"Um, do you think you can walk?"

"Not on this hoof," Sweetie groaned. It was difficult to make out in the darkness, but it appeared to Apple Bloom that Sweetie was cradling her left foreleg. It was clear that she wasn't going to be getting anywhere unassisted.

Apple Bloom knelt her head down, and grasped the ring of fabric still wrapped around Sweetie, and started pulling backwards. Soon she was hauling the unicorn up the stairs of the basement and into the light. It was stressful trying to keep the unicorn steady as they ascended.

Once they were out of the basement, Apple Bloom finally got a clear view of her friend. Sweetie Belle certainly looked like she'd spent the day inside a dark pit. Her usually well-kept mane was knotted, dirty, and hung limp on her head. Her tail was in a similar state of disarray, and was partially stuck to her left hind leg. The hair on the filly's face was stained dark, presumably from tears.

But the nastiest sight was her leg. It was bent outward from the body, the flesh and muscle torn apart near the base of the knee. The small bones was visible, a frightening, unnatural white amongst a sea of red and pink sinew.

"Wow…that looks like it really hurts."

"Ungh, yeah…"

"But you know what else?"

"What?"

A growling sound resounded again from her stomach, louder now than it had been down in the basement. Perhaps they would have heard it, but another piercing scream echoed down to them from upstairs, followed by the sounds of breaking glass and wood and the clanging of metal.

Apple Bloom knew what she had come here for, even if she hadn't planned on it. Her mind was telling her something again, something that had never occurred to her before.

"It looks kinda tasty."

Without warning, the yellow pony bent down and bit into the exposed muscle in the wound, blood splattering onto her snout as she sucked in the strange new meat. She thought it would taste salty, or feel stringy in her teeth, but it wasn't. In fact it was kind of like…

"You know Sweetie Belle…you kinda taste like a marshmallow."

Sweetie Belle's only answer was to scream, and soon her cries were mingled and mixed with that of her sisters from above. Looking up for a moment, Apple Bloom saw that there were flames spreading across the walls of the Boutique upstairs. This didn't bother her though, and she knelt back down to take another bite of Sweetie Belle.

After all, she just _loved_ toasted marshmallows.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Rarity had been busy.<p>

After she'd left Sweetie Belle, Rarity had gone into her bathroom to wash up. The galloping that morning, combined with stumbling around inside that dank basement with sweetie bell had left her coat practically _covered_ in a layer of dust, dirt, and mud of all sources.

I had been while she was in the bath tub that she'd first noticed them; the tiny, almost invisible bits of dirt that were seemingly stuck to the fibers of her coat. At first she'd thought they were just a trick of the light, but looking closely, it became clear that these infinitesimal particulates were indeed something foreign to her person.

It had seemed an easy enough problem to fix at first. The regular soap and water didn't seem to work, so she'd just needed to get a loofa the remove these marring little irritants. But after several minutes of harsh scrubbing, they were _still_ there. Rarity wasn't sure what they were, but the one thing that they _weren't _was gone.

_Very well, I suppose this calls for drastic measures. Now where did I leave the steel wool? Ah! It's underneath the sink!_

And yet, even the horribly painful scrubbing with the wool proved ultimately useless. The unicorn scrubbed with it on both of her front hooves again and again and again to no avail. All she accomplished was to make the skin beneath her hair raw and red from it.

This was getting desperate. Getting out of the tub, Rarity toweled herself off, trying to come up with something, anything at all, to solve these seemingly irremovable specks that were on her body. She could _feel_ them on her, even on areas she couldn't see. She had just dried her mane, yet already felt like there was something disgusting in it. She could practically feel the hairs sticking together with some type of slime, yet the mirror showed nothing. It was so small, so imperceptible that the unicorn felt like she was going mad.

_You're just…just imagining things, Rarity. The stress of everything that's happened today with…with Sweetie Belle and everything else has gotten to your head a bit. That's all. You just need to try to ignore it and this whole thing will be nothing more than a bizarre story to mention in conversation someday._

But after nearly 2 hours of trying to ignore it, things hadn't changed at all. Or rather, they'd changed for the worse. Rarity had though it would be a good idea to try and get some work done on a few outfits she'd been working on earlier in the week, as that would take her mind off of the constant itching that had arisen after she left the bath.

But the irritation had remained, and only grown more and more vexing as she tried to sew the sleeve of the dress she was working on for the upcoming Winter Welcome festival. Her thoughts had devolved into monosyllabic mantras, trying desperately to keep from focusing on that awful, excruciating itch.

_Stitch. Stich. Stich. Stich. Itch. Stich. Stitch. Stich. Stich. Itch. Stich. Stich. Stich. Itch. Itch. Stich. Itch. Stich. Itch. Itch. Itch. _Icth. Itch. Icth. Itch!

Rarity stumbled away from the sewing machine, her mind whirling. She magically summoned a bottle of shampoo from the bathroom, and poured it over her mane, her front hooves working it in, praying in Celestia's name that it would stop. Instead, the sensation only grew stronger as the shampoo was worked into her hair and dripped over her face.

Then it seeped into her eyes, and the itching spread their as well. The shampoo wasn't helping _her_ it was helping _it _find its way into everything. She ran into the bathroom, using her horn (which was now aflame with the same unbearable prickling as before) to turn the faucet of the tub on. The unicorn dumped her head underneath the falling water, trying to wash out the shampoo.

But while the water had washed away the shampoo, the itching simply grew worse at its touch. Every drop that fell from the faucet intensified the creeping, crawling, torturous itch tenfold as it splashed onto her body. Rarity sprang back from the water, crying out and stumbling back into her work room. She tripped upon her own hooves and landed on the floor.

Every time the unicorn moved, she brushed against the carpet, and the sensation increased exponentially. Every touch or movement or action brought new agony to her. She felt tears pouring down her face, spreading the itch, the dirt, the torturous _pain_ that refused to cease. There had to be…had to be _some _way to stop it, some possible way to relieve herself from this pain.

Then the idea came to her. The problem was her fur! She had to cut it off, to sever its filth from her body before it consumed her. As quick as thought, the razor was out of the cabinet of her vanity table and magically levitated above her. Even in her tumultuous state of mind, Rarity's styling instincts held true, and soon the razor was slicing the hair off with perfect precision.

The unicorn sighed happily at the relief as more and more hair fell off her body. More and more the itch was leaving her as the razor cut its sweet rescue across her flank and fetlock. Then came dealing with her tail and mane, taken away by the snips of scissors.

When it was over, Rarity took a glance in the mirror and stopped frozen.

She had been so focused on the relief, she hadn't thought of what she was doing to her appearance. The reflection in the mirror was that of a disheveled mess of a pony. Gone was the beautiful purple mane and tail she had spent endless hours preening and teasing and styling over the years. Gone was the polished, shiny, white coat she had always made sure to wash and brush.

In the place of her usually beautiful features, there was now a pony with uneven, pocked white skin, closer to beige than her coat color. Her horn, unaffected by the shave, stood in contrast to her now fully visible skin, and made the difference all the more glaring. But what was most heartbreaking was her tail. She'd sacrificed it once before to help that sea serpent…but this was different. There was nothing left at the end of her flank but an ugly nub of skin and bone with a barely visible hint of purple stubble.

Tears streamed from Rarity's face, and that was when she realized the itch she'd just sacrificed her beauty to escape was still there. While the sheering had taken it away for her body, there was one area on her that still suffered; her _eyes._

That was the breaking point. From the sensory onslaught of the bizarre sensation, to the desperate act of ruining her appearance, to the final realization that it hadn't worked, it was too much for her mind. She collapsed onto the ground, shaking, crying, and too miserable to ponder how this had happened.

Then a voice, far off in the back of her head told her what to do. She stood up and walked over to the sewing machine. There she found the tool she needed. The voice in her mind urged her to take the needle that sat there beside the machine, and drive it into her eyes. Then, and only then, would it all finally stop.

It would be _perfect_. She would no longer have to worry about her appearance being ruined, because she would even know. She could just pretend she looked completely normal.

"Oh but I couldn't…there'd be blood everywhere! But then…if I tried fire…yes, that might work…where are my matches?"

She found the matches in the cabinet at the bottom of her chest of drawers, and took them out, placed them beside the needle.

_Yes…I can cauterize the wounds as soon as I make them! That way there's no blood loss!_

She levitated a match out of the case, and struck it against the sandpaper of the box. Keeping the burning stick in the air, she magically raised the long, metal needle to eye level, the point directed straight at her right eye.

With only a split second of hesitation, she drove the needle into her pupil.

She knew in an instant she'd made a mistake.

The itching had been awful, horrible, unbearable, but this sharp, searing pain was a thousand times worse than anything before. She screamed as the needle pierced her eyeball, and then again when she instinctively closed her eyes, pushing the needle in further.

With the unicorn's concentration broken, the match fell down, falling straight onto the box, its fellows sizzling to life from its fiery tip. As Rarity howled in pain, she flung herself backwards in a panic, kicking the sewing table as she did so. The piece of furniture fell over and the ball of flames that had once been the match box tumbling onto the carpet.

Rarity blacked out.

If felt like only a second had passed since she had fallen, but she knew right away it had been longer. The fire from the matches had spread across the room, the growing flames licking at the canopy of her four-post bed. The sharp, agonizing stinging in her eye was still present, letting her know that the needle had gone nowhere. The right side of her head was resting in a pool of what had to be blood on the floor.

The unicorn couldn't move. She was paralyzed by fear and pain and confusing.

_To think, this all started with a bath._

Her thoughts flashed to the tub, to a vision of Sweetie Belle pouting amongst the water and soap bubbles as a loofa scrubbed against her forhead.

_Sweetie Belle…oh I hope she's safe…if this fire spreads I don't know what will happen to the basement and that hole._

_ Oh please let Sweetie Belle be safe…_

Then any coherent thoughts were banished as the flames began to claw at her hooves.

Half-blind, marred, burned, and still tortured in her left eye by that awful itch, Rarity screamed towards the ceiling, tears streaming down from her one good eye.

* * *

><p>It wasn't hurting anymore.<p>

That was the only thing Scootaloo was in any condition to notice.

She had no idea how long the blows had been coming now, or how many there were. She'd lost count after 2 dozen, and was now curled up in the fetal position, bruised, bloody, and crying. Again and again the blue Pegasus' hooves rained down onto the back of her head, cracking bone and crunching cartilage.

But somehow…it didn't hurt anymore.

She felt the attacks' impact, but there was no more pain. Instead her body was consumed by one large, horrible ache. Every time her heart beat, her entire body, from nose to wingtips to hooves would throb with pain. But there was nothing else being added to it. It was a steady, constant, almost bearable pain, and nothing Rainbow Dash did seemed to change it any more.

The tiny orange Pegasus was nothing short of awful to see. A well placed strike from earlier as torn the cartilage in her left ear, and now it hung, dangling from her head by a bit of skin. Her right eye was swelled shut, and she'd accidentally bitten straight through her lower lip. Her back was a mishmash of varying black, blue, and purple contusions. Her left back left was twisted from when Dash had stomped on it.

The Pegasus was still shouting orders at her. Telling her to get up, or to stop crying, to stop being a baby and pony up like a _real _Young Flyer's Champion would. But it didn't matter. Scootaloo's pain clouded mind had long since passed the point of understanding the awful, pulsating agony she was experiencing.

But at least…it wasn't hurting anymore.

Scootaloo's one good eye closed tight as another kick slammed into her throat. She coughed, and felt what she guessed had to be blood spew out of her mouth. She knew that this was it…this was the end.

But at least…she'd finally gotten to train with Rainbow Dash.

Her eyes closed, body throbbing in misery, Scootaloo felt her consciousness fade into nothingness.

Then, she didn't feel anything at all.

* * *

><p>Seth knew he needed to get out of Town Hall, and <em>fast<em>. None of them seemed willing to listen to what he had to say, and he couldn't say they weren't justified. He'd been desperate to try and convince them to stop Pinkie Pie, and had ended up spilling about everything he'd been hiding.

He wasn't sure when it had happened, but somewhere along the way he'd started really believing he _was_ in Equestria. He actually was in the body of a Unicorn of all things, and he was well and truly experiencing these bizarre happenings.

_Okay, I've gotta find a way out of here. If nopony else is going to believe me, I'll have to stop Pinkie Pie myself, or find some way to let them see her with that necklace. I know that thing is from "Cupcakes" and if they've really got a killer here, it'll be her._

_ I just never thought _that_ story of all things would become canon. Maybe those people who read so much into "Party of One" had something after all._

But to accomplish anything, he had to find a way to get out of his impromptu prison cell. The room they'd stuck him in looked like it usually served as a secretary or clerk's office, with a small desk, a pair of short file cabinets, and a pile of papers and folders in the corner. Had there been a window, he'd have slipped out as soon as Mac, Pokey, and…_Derbyshire_ closed the door. But it seemed the 3 ponies had anticipated that, and stuck him in this box of a room.

Now it appeared that the only way he'd be able to leave was to go through the door and them. Judging by the way Big Mac had taken him down so quickly upstairs, this seemed an unwise move to attempt. Unless he wanted another face-full of stallion PLOT, it would be a better idea to try and come up with a different means of escaping.

_Too bad this companion cube cutie mark doesn't let me fire portals out of my horn. Then I could just teleport right the hell out of here. What does this thing even _mean_ anyway? Wait…teleport!_

The idea struck him in the head like a ton of bricks. He was a goddamn _unicorn. _He had _magic._ He had read dozens of fanfic that talked about the methods of teleportation. Yes, those were just fan theories, but if "Cupcakes" could be canon, why not others? Surely somebody like Sergeant Sprinkles couldn't be the only one to have stumbled upon hidden bits of the show's mythos.

_Alright, just follow what you know, Seth. First you need to concentrate on a place. Now what's a good place to teleport out of here?_

The first place to come to mind was the street outside Sugar Cube Corner. He could visualize the view of the tall, pink bakery. That would work perfectly. It would take him right to where Pinkie Pie was most likely to be. Then he could go in and stop her. Or he could try and convince somepony to help him. Either way, it meant he'd be out of here, and safe distance away from the Defense force.

_Okay. I've got a destination set now. Next is focusing on me being there. I've got to picture myself there. Picture myself as I am now, with the strange yellow hair and the red mane and the horn and the nonsensical Cutie Mark._

_ Now all that's left is to focus my magical power…_

_ Wait. How do I do that?_

Seth had been scrunching his eyes closed, so as the keep from getting distracted from the task at hand. One thing he had learned from the opening of _Dangerous Business_ was that you did not want to screw around with teleportation. But now he opened his eyes, trying to figure out just how he was going to learn how to work magic when he'd never had any before today.

_Craaaaaaaaaaap. You've got to be kidding me. I come up with a way to get out of here and save everypony's life, only to be stopped because I'm not able to manage something baby unicorns can do from nearly day one?_

Frustrated, Seth did something that surprised even himself. He _bucked_. His two back legs kicked back, as his weight shifted onto his front hooves, and collided with the office's desk, knocking the piece of furniture on its side.

_Huh, Maybe I should try taking up apple picking after this._

Sighing, Seth decided it would be a much better use of his time to try and find a way out of here, rather than contemplating possible pony careers. Heck, he didn't even know if he'd be sticking around here, or if he'd be heading home after this whole cupcakes mess was over. He had no clue what the future held in this bizarre turn of events, so he might as well stick to the task at hand.

_Alright now, I can do this. I've just got to listen to my instincts. And my instincts are telling me…that I'm hungry after having not eaten all day. But they're also telling me that I need to try and center myself. That's what all magic users do right? They close their eyes; focus their mind on moving their energy into action..._

It took several minutes, and Seth was close to giving up when, after nearly passing out from keeping his body tense, he felt a spark inside his gut. It was tiny, fragile, and the shock of actually achieving something nearly made him lose his grasp of the magic. But somehow, through luck or inherent focus, he kept hold of the tiny ember of power, and concentrated on drawing it out more, making it grow.

Steady, pleasant warmth began to spread out across his body from the center of his stomach, like he'd just had a long swig of hot cocoa. The sensation spread throughout his head, and flowed into the tip of his horn. With a bit of hesitation, Seth focused the magic all into the horn, all the while trying to picture himself appearing in the courtyard outside Sugar Cube Corner. When he was confident he had the sufficient energy and concentration, he flipped a mental switch, and unleashed the power around his body.

…and was promptly met with an explosion.

There was a blinding flash, and Seth could have sworn he felt a truck slaw him into the side of the wall. He felt the wood splinter and snap as he smacked into it, and winced as several slices of wood drove themselves into his back.

As the dust cleared, Seth tried to open his eyes, ears ringing, and was greeted with a rather unexpected sight: sunlight.

The explosion had blown out the far wall, and it appeared that the owner of this office had drawn the short straw in choice of work station. Seth had thought he was in a room unconnected to the outside, but it seemed that the wall just didn't happen to have a window.

As a result, the wall had crumbled at the force of the explosion, letting in the bright rays of a noon-day sun. Looking at the damage, Seth was surprised he hadn't been turned to shreds by the accident.

_I guess Ponies really are just super resilient to stuff. Explains how Rainbow Dash can shatter the sound barrier without turning into jelly. Maybe I should take up bungee jumping after this, after all it couldn't hurt._

_ Gah, head in the game Seth! You've got a way out, take it before they come in and stop you!_

Sure enough, Seth heard the sound of shouting voices and clopping hooves as he rose from the pile of debris. The splinter still stung, but he imagined they would be an awful lot worse if her were in his usual body.

_Alright, now I've just got to find my way to the bakery and stop a pink pony from killing and eating everyone in town. And that is a sentence no sensible human being should ever have to seriously say. Today has been _weird.

With that thought on his mind, Seth shot out of the building, and galloped down the road he thought was most likely to take him near Sugar Cube Corner.

* * *

><p>Twilight Sparkle galloped down the path towards the Everfree Forest. She had to get to Zecora's house as quickly as possible. If Zecora had a book or spell that could work to find the necklace, they'd be that much closer to finding and apprehending the killer, but even if she didn't, the rhyming zebra might have some sort of advice.<p>

A thought occurred to the unicorn as she crossed the threshold into the dark, wild forest that bordered Ponyville. Had Zecora even heard about the killer? She lived in a cottage far outside of the boundaries of the village, and it was entirely possible the magical projection the Mayor had used last night hadn't reached her. Zecora could very well have been sitting in her home this whole day without an inkling of the kind of danger that was threatening the area.

Or worse…the barriers that had kept the town locked up tight as a drum wouldn't have been in effect at Zecora's house either, meaning the killer could have gotten to her during the night! Twilight felt terrible that she hadn't even thought of the zebra during the entire mess the previous night, and now…now the eccentric hermit might be hurt due to that brash carelessness.

These thoughts weighing down on her mind, Twilight urged her legs to gallop faster, beginning to sweat from the strenuous pace. It was tiring, but she wouldn't allow a moment's rest until she reached the cottage deep within the realms of Everfree Forest.

But something did force her to stop. It wasn't fatigue, though the wrenching pace she'd been forcing was tiring. What stopped her was a thundering, growling howl that erupted from the trees. It was a guttural, raw sound that Twilight couldn't identify, but she didn't need to know what was making the noise to be afraid of it. Nearly instantly, the pony's legs locked up beneath her and she came to a terrified stop.

The roar echoed off into the distance, but Twilight knew that whatever it was that had been making the noise was still out there…and it was close. As the echoes faded away, she could hear the creature moving, shuffling the forest floor as twigs and leaves snapped and crumbled beneath it.

Twilight kept her body absolutely still, willing her body to keep from making a sound, begging for her legs to stop shaking. If whatever this things was heard her…she couldn't dare think of how it would end.

_Keep calm. Just stay still. Make yourself completely unknown and you'll be alright. If it can't hear or see you, the only way it could possibly find you is if it…_

The sound of a sniffing muzzle brushing against leaves reached her ears.

_If it smells you!_

If she weren't petrified in fear, the unicorn was sure she'd have let out a scream so loud they would have heard it all the way in Canterlot. She didn't know what to do if the monster, or whatever it was, noticed her. Would she be able to outrun it? Could she use her magic to teleport away? Would she even have time to do that?

For the second time in as many minutes, Twilight was nearly scared out of her coat by a loud, unexpected noise. From far behind her, their came the sound of an explosion, and the ground beneath her hooves shook.

The explosion, or whatever it was, seemed to grab the attention of the creature, as the sounds of sniffing faded away, and were replaced by the snapping of twigs and leaves. After a few minutes the sounds of the creature's movements petered off into the distance, but Twilight remained frozen for several minutes afterwards. She had to make absolutely sure that the creature was gone.

When the unicorn was finally satisfied that the threat was gone for the time being, she hesitantly began walking forward again.

_Just what _was_ that thing? I know there are tons of strange creatures and plants in this forest, but I've never heard anything like that. Even the wild dragon's I've seen didn't sound as scary as that one. Just what in the world goes on in here?_

But now wasn't the time to worry about it. Nor was it time to think about what that exploding sound could have been. For now the most important thing was getting to Zecora's, finding out a spell to locate the necklace, and stop whatever or whoever it was who had made the horrifying trinket.

Despite the urgency, Twilight decided it was best not to try and return to her previous manic pace. If that creature, or anything else for that matter, came close to her, she wanted to be able to hear it, and have some speed to fall back on if she needed to. But it seemed the forest was done with its surprises for now, and no other discouraging sounds or sights arose as she made her way to the cottage.

She sighed in relief, glad to have finally made it to Zecora's home. She knocked on the door quickly, waited several seconds, but heard no sign of movement or activity inside the humble home. Another knock, another several moments of waiting for an answer. Nothing.

As she went to knock again, she noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Deciding that politeness could take a backseat to emergency, she pushed to door open and called for Zecora in the shadows.

The first thing she saw was red.

A deep, vivid, impossibly vibrant red like she'd never seen before.

It covered the walls, the floor, the table, everything.

Blood was splattered across the entire cottage, congealing and crusted in puddles and streaks on the floor. She'd never seen anything like it, anything near as terrifying as that sight.

Or rather, she'd never seen something so terrifying until her gaze reached the shadows.

* * *

><p>Krastos moved with a slow, deliberate gate. He stood erect upon his two back feet, hammer gripped in one forepaw, his trusty sack in the other. He had let out a ferocious cry when he came into being, but now remained silent. He had heard something…perhaps it was what he was looking for.<p>

What _was_ he looking for?

The bear did not know, but something in his slow, primordial mind told him he would know it once he saw it. Following instinct, he lowered himself to the ground, and his nose began to sniff the ground beneath him. He sensed a faint smell of something…he didn't know what, but it piqued the interest of his primal consciousness.

He continued sniffing, and moved slowly forward, when suddenly a loud sound disrupted his thoughts. He stood up, and turned towards the racket was coming from. He took it as a sign that he was meant to travel that way, and so resumed his purposeful walk, hoping to find what he was looking for.

Krastos the Glue Maker made his way slowly through the trees and vines around him, hearing the occasional bird or rabbit scuttle away as he approached. After a time he registered that the trees were growing further apart from one another, and there seemed to be fewer of them.

Soon the large bear found himself at the edge of the woods, and stepped without deliberation onto the clear, flat ground. He felt grass and flowers beneath his back paws. Though he had been dutifully carrying it through his journey, the large mallet clutched in his left paw felt as light was the sack in his right. The small gluepot held in the pocket of his apron jangled as he strode along through the field.

How long it took to finally find what he'd been searching for, the one-eyed bear neither knew nor cared. All that mattered was that when he found himself outside the cozy little cottage set in front of the trickling stream and surrounded by birdhouses and rabbit holes, he knew he was close to what he was looking for.

With the same slow, steady pace as always, Krastos stepped towards the door.

* * *

><p>There were 3 of them, all nearly identical. Dark, pitch black midnight dark coats and manes. Their eyes were a solid shining red, not unlike the blood on the cottage walls, with no hint of a pupil. They were all staring at her as she took them in, almost as if they were waiting for her to speak.<p>

Then one of them stepped forward, and spoke.

"Look at her, Greyhoof! She's got a mark too! It's like there's some epidemic around here! First that weird black and white pony, and now this little visitor. What do you think we should do about her?"

The second creature moved forward, next to the first who had spoken.

"We must be kind, Roneo. That was our mistake with the other one. But his girl is a unicorn, so perhaps _she _can answer our questions."

There was a shift in the air, and Twilight felt a chill run through her body, down to the tip of her tail, and she knew that the creatures…these inscrutably dark ponies, had all focused on her. Instinct told her to run, the get as far away from this place as physically could, but for the second time in a few minutes she was frozen in fear.

"You girl," the second one, who the first had called Greyhoof, spoke. "What do you know of this place? We are unfamiliar with this place…it is both like and unlike our world. Do you know how we have come here?"

Twilight opened her mouth, soother for a second by the cordial way Greyhoof had spoken, but stopped as a rank, awful smell reached her nose. Her mouth shut tight and she recoiled, backing up some in the doorway.

"Don't you _dare_ try to leave, girl!" the third creature shouted. "You aren't leaving until you tell us what's going on! You unicorns and your damn magic…it was probably your kind that got us here in the first place!"

"Silence, Three Leaf," Greyhoof commanded. "It is understandable that she would feel a bit apprehensive at our appearance. That is why we try to stay in the village. But you girl, you must tell us just where we are, and why we're no longer in our land at all. This place is similar in setting...but is has a strange shape to it. What is the name of this place?"

Again, Twilight was about to answer, and again she was stopped. This time it wasn't the stink that made her pause…it was that she'd just discovered its source.

As the third pony, Three Leaf, had walked forward, she had revealed a large bundle that had previously been blocked from view, but as Twilight got a better look at it, she realized it was Zecora…but not. The Zebra's skin had been halfway removed from her skull, leaving the bones and teeth of her muzzle exposed to the air. Her eyes were gone, nothing but deep black holes surrounded by splattered blood in their stead. Her stomach had been torn open, intestines and viscera pooled beneath her.

But the smell Twilight Sparkle had detected was coming from the Zebra's flank…or rather the burned, charred remains of her flank. Even the bone beneath the skin was blackened beyond recognition.

Twilight screamed, stumbling backwards in terror and confusion. She'd never…_never_ seen anything so horrific in her life. Her mind didn't know what to do, how to react, to something this unimaginably awful.

Greyhoof realized what she'd seen and lurched forward, flinching slightly as the sunlight filtered in through the doorway. If it had been a day earlier, that tiny bit of sun would have been enough to destroy the trio of dark specters, but now they had feasted, and they were strong enough to weather it in stride.

"Grab her! Do not let her escape from us!"

The other two launched themselves forward, bearing the pain of the sunlight as the reached their hooves out towards the terrified unicorn. Twilight didn't, no she _couldn't_ react quick enough to stop them. She felt the cold touch of their dark hooves on the back of her neck, on her legs, on her back. She cringed, flinched, screamed.

And then there was a flash of gray and yellow, the sound of kicking, and then the hooves were wrenched away from her.

Standing before her was a young pony, barely larger than a filly. She had a gray coat, with bits of mud and leaves inside her blond mane. Her cutie mark was in the shape of a wooden-handled magnifying glass, but the most striking part of her appearance was her eyes. Like the dark creature she'd just kicked off of Twilight, her eyes were without pupils, a single solid color that emitted a sense of otherworldliness.

But unlike theirs, her eyes were a bright, shining, almost haunting white luminescence. The small filly turned to Twilight, her two lustrous orbs shining brightly in the dim and bloody cottage. She opened her mouth and spoke.

"Run."

The half-whisper from that strange, ethereal voice was what finally shook Twilight out of her fear induced haze. It was soft, comforting, but all the while filled with an unearthly power, and it allowed the unicorn to finally think straight.

"But I-"

"There's nothing you can do here," the strange pony interrupted. "Just leave this to me. You've got your own problems coming up. Don't worry yourself with these horrors. If I'm right, you'll face far worse on your own soon enough."

The pony turned, and Twilight's vision was filled with a pure white flash, and felt a forceful, yet kind pressure shove her out of the door. Twilight hesitated for a second as she looked into the door way. The three dark ponies seemed both frightened and enraged by the strange being before them, but Twilight lost sight of the scene as the door slammed shut and locked on its own.

_"If I'm right, you'll face far worse…"_

With that grim line repeating in her head like an awful mantra, Twilight Sparkle turned towards the trail that led back to Ponyville, and shot off, galloping at breakneck speed towards her home, confused and troubled by the massacre she'd just witnessed, and dreading what she would find when she reached town.

* * *

><p>Ruby stood her ground in front of her killers. They were not the only ones responsible for what had been done to her…but they were only three that had arrived in this world with her.<p>

She had spent so long in her current form, having to protect…or more likely _fail_ to protect those who had stumbled upon the village of blanks. But then, what had been only a day before, the world had turned upside down. She'd been struck with a delirium and felt her consciousness fade into nothingness, and when she awoke, she'd found herself in a world both like and unlike the one she called home.

There were many signs that this was much the same as the place she'd lived…and died in, yet all the images seemed different, sharper, like somebody had enhanced and reshaped her eyes, and she was seeing the world anew. But Ruby hadn't had much time to marvel at this strangeness, for soon she'd sensed the present of the Blanks from her village, and she'd hidden deep in the woods, hoping against hope that they wouldn't sense her.

The Blanks had seemed just as befuddled as Ruby when they awoke, keeping their then-incomplete bodies hidden in the shadows, hissing questions and worries at one another, planning what to do. When the ghostly pony had heard of their plan to visit the cottage in the distance, her instincts had told her to go and warn whoever was in there, but she'd chosen not to. This new world, while so familiar in landscape, could house an entirely different breed of pony, perhaps the beings that dwelled in the small home were like the others, and going there would only lead to an attack.

She'd known she was wrong the instant the Blanks had knocked on the door. From the distance, Ruby had seen the strange mark on the bizarre black and white pony's flank, and though she didn't know what it was meant to symbolize, she had known instantly that it was a mark just like her magnifying glass. But she'd been too scared to try and stop the Blanks then, and had tried her hardest to block out the screams of agony that had seeped into the night from the small house.

But when the second pony, again bearing a mark on her flank, approached the cottage, Ruby had known she couldn't stand idly by while the Blanks harmed another. She had run as fast as she could towards the door, and arrived just in time to save the unicorn from the same fate as the other pony.

Now she stood before three of her murderers, who had been cursed with the power of her anguish since that day, and they surveyed her with looks made equally of anger and fear. She knew that there was little she could truly do to stop them, the most power she had even as a spirit had been to push the innocent pony out of the way.

The sound of galloping hooves told Ruby that the purple unicorn had heeded her warning, and run away from this dangerous, awful place. Ruby was relieved, but knew she had to stay resolute in front of these shades, and do everything she could to stall them from chasing after their prey.

"You!" hissed Greyhoof, pointing his hoof towards Ruby. "So you came here along with us after all. It seems that death is not the only thing that cannot stop the torment you bring to us."

"Torment?" Ruby retorted. "You speak of torment? What's happened to you isn't torture, it is justice for the horrible acts you committed. You tore the flesh from my bones, you shoved my still living body into the furnace of your house, and the pain and agony I felt left a dark curse upon all those that allowed it. You deserve your fate."

"You're the reason this all started! It's your fault!" Roneo shouted. "You were the one who invoked the curse with that evil mark on your flank. You were what brought the darkness!"

"I was _innocent," _Ruby smashed her hoof into the ground. "How dare you try to blame me for what you did? You were the ones who tortured and destroyed a pony who did nothing but find what made her special! You all were the ones who brought all this! You three, and the townsponies, and even…and even my own mother."

"This gets us nowhere!" Three Leaf cried, inching closer and closer to Ruby as she spoke. "She's the cause of this, and even in death she remains here to bring more misery. But now she's here in front of us, and there's nowhere to run. We can finally destroy her and rid ourselves of this hex!"

Ruby knew that her time was up. She'd been hoping to stall for more time than what the short conversation had allowed, but it seemed the Blanks' bloodlust wasn't something easily sated. She could only hope they decided to stay in the cottage after they were done with her, and not venture into the sun, for if the creature she'd seen in the forest the night prior was making its way where she thought it was, then that unicorn and her friends were in for more than enough trouble.

But perhaps, though she would not be able to stop them, Ruby could at least aim to harm.

The three dark ponies moved forward as one, lurching towards her. Ruby ducked to her left, and kicked upward with all the might her back legs could muster. She felt the blows connect with Roneo's chin, and took some small pleasure as she heard the stallion grunt in pain.

No time to stop, Ruby righted herself and turned back to the trio.

And felt sharp, jagged teeth pierce her throat.

Three Leaf had been expecting her to move, and had held back while the other two Blanks flung themselves forward, and had been in the perfect position to strike out as Ruby righted herself.

Ruby was taken aback by the attack, if only for a second. But really, a second was all it took. In an instant the other two were upon her. As Greyhoof and Roneo latched their maws around her foreleg and tail respectively, Three Leaf pulled away, taking a chunk of Ruby's throat with her.

The dismemberment continued for several minutes, but there were no screams. No sounds other than the grunts and growls of the trio of specters as they tore their former neighbor. Ruby had suffered her death once before, and this pain was nothing compared to that horror. She had existed in the dark recesses of her world for so long, that physical pain left no impression upon her.

She was still conscious, if immobile when they finally finished tearing her asunder. Her head rested free from her neck, and her eyes were closed. One couldn't blame them for thinking she was dead…or as close to it as a ghost could get.

"Now _that_ felt good," Three Leaf said, jubilation in her every inflection. "I've been wanting to do that for decades!"

"It seems we were wrong," Greyhoof said quietly. "Destroying her…it hasn't set us free."

"It's obvious why, isn't it?" Roneo spoke up as he spat out a chunk of meat. "She's no longer the only one with the mark. It wasn't what _she_ did that made us like this, it was that _damned _mark."

"If that is true, then we have no choice but to fine that pony we met earlier…and destroy her. Perhaps then we will finally return to our home, and to some semblance of normality," Greyhoof posited.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Three Leaf asked, already making way for the door. "After this little feast, we've more than enough power to face the sunlight."

"Very well. We'll find that unicorn, and we shall end her, and any other of her kind."

The trio moved to the door, and with one kick of a hoof, the door crashed open. Sunlight shone brightly on the three awful specters, but caused them no more impedance than sore eyes.

The shades exited the college with dark purpose on their minds, and Ruby could do nothing but hope that the purple unicorn she'd died (again) for would have enough of a head start.

Ruby felt herself fading, slowly, into the dark embrace of death's clutches. The first time she'd been here, her anguish had let her break free. But now she was at peace, and welcomed death not as an enemy, but as an old acquaintance that had long been waiting to meet.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Local Teen Found Dead, Mutilated in DC Apartment_

_ On Thursday, September 15, a DC teenager was found dead in his apartment._

_ The body of Eric Vesslar, 19, was found on Thursday by a neighbor, heavily scarred and damaged. The neighbor, a Mr. Edward Varna, had entered the apartment using a spare key, after hearing distressing cries coming from the apartment. Upon entering the apartment, he discovered the body inside the bathroom._

_ "It was one of the most awful sights a person can see," Varna remarked upon interview. "He was just lying there, bits of him…just missing."_

_ Those "bits" refer to the several (as of yet unspecified) pieces of the body that were reported missing by the investigators. The cause and method of death is also unknown according to investigators, as Detective Orville Craine was quoted as telling on site reporters._

_ "It's awfully strange really. The wounds look like they might have been caused by an animal, but the marks aren't like anything I've ever seen. The only thing I'm certain of is that whatever, or whoever did it, it wasn't caused by a dog."_

_ The missing pieces of the body have led some officers to believe it is the work of a serial killer, according to an interview with an officer who asked to remain anonymous. However, the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, who are in charge of the case, released a statement denying these rumors._

_ "We simply do not know yet what happened, and to jump to conclusions will only cause panic. Until the results of the autopsy are in, there's no point in trying to come up with any strange ideas."_

_ The current investigation is ongoing._

_ Vesslar is survived by his parents, Arthur and Nadine, as well as his younger brother, Brandon. The family could not be reached for statement, but our condolences go out to them during this difficult time._

* * *

><p>Seth was almost certain he'd gone in entirely the wrong direction. The first inkling of doubt had come when he had n' recognized any of the houses or buildings around him from the show. While the backgrounds <em>Friendship is Magic<em> had always been a bit blurry, he was sure that the buildings he was seeing weren't anywhere near the town center.

But he'd been unsure, and thus had carried on against his better judgment.

The second, and more damning sign was when he saw the edge of town, and while he was certainly unfamiliar with the exact layout of Ponyville, he was fairly certain that the bakery would _not_ in fact be in a small cluster of buildings far from the boundaries of the town. But by now, he had a new reason not to turn back.

As he had been galloping (didn't that feel weird to think, he was _galloping_ of all things) down the road, and approaching the cottages at the very edge of the town proper when the voice of Mayor Mare echoed into his head. He'd been surprised at first, afraid he was either going crazy (again) or they had managed to catch him, but as she continued talking he realized the message wasn't for him, but rather about him.

"_Citizens of Ponyville, I am reinstating the Official State of Emergency, and will be resetting the barriers in exactly 10 minutes. All members of the Equestrian Defense need to mobilize immediately. We have a very high possibility of a threat in Ponyville, and I urge everypony to take extreme caution. This morning, a strange unicorn was brought in for questioning, and he has now escaped._

_ "The stranger is known to go by the name "Mintberry Crunch" and "Seth." He is a yellow unicorn with a deep red mane and tale, last seen headed for the outskirts of town. I urge all citizens to avoid this pony, as he is quite likely dangerous. If you spot him, do _not_ try to confront him. The Defense force will take sole responsibility for apprehending him._

_ "Please stay safe in this time of crisis, my faithful citizens, and I assure you we will all come out of this unharmed."_

That told Seth 3 things. One, they were now completely convinced he was the killer, and he couldn't exactly blame them. He was completely new, he had started spouting dribble about being from a different world and being a different species that they'd never heard of, and now he'd effectively broken out of prison. He wasn't helping his PR with his actions, but right now he needed to find a place to hide until he could lead them to Sugar Cube Corner.

_Okay, so I have 3 options. I can stop right here, and try to hide in a house until those barriers go up…but if what they told me was true, I'll be stuck in there until they can't find me, and who knows what Pinkie Pie might do then?_

_ Number two is to turn back and risk running into the Defense force, which will result in me most likely getting beaten into submission by a group of colorful ponies and their metal clubs of varying size and decoration. I'd prefer to not break my legs while in Ponyville, so I'll call this a "maybe" for now._

_ And finally we have what is hopefully the least painful choice; keep going straight and find a place outside of town to lay low until I can think up a new plan. I like this one, as it doesn't result in me being trapped or suffering severe bodily injury. Let's go with that one._

It wasn't long after settling on this course of action that Seth was again outside of town. He wasn't sure precisely where on the outskirts he was, but he knew that pretty soon he would have to find a place to hide.

And that was when he heard the screaming.

* * *

><p>Twilight hadn't known where to go, or what to do. She'd done nothing but run. The forest swirled past her in a haze of greens and browns and grays and blacks. She felt tears fall from her eyes as she flashed back to the vision of Zecora…<p>

No. She couldn't think of something like that. She had to focus on escaping. That strange grey pony had told her to get away, and that was all she could do. She didn't know what those creatures were, and she honestly didn't want to know. There had been something around them, some presence or atmosphere that was completely alien…just _wrong_. Like something like them shouldn't exist.

She'd had that sensation before, just the other day.

The Necklace.

Were they the ones who owned that necklace? Were they the killers? It seemed logical. After all, they'd shown more than just a propensity for…for mutilation.

Again Twilight Sparkle forced herself to banish those thoughts. If she broke down now, they might catch her. So she ran, and she kept going until she crossed the threshold and had cleared Everfree Forest. But even then she didn't stop. She needed shelter, needed a place that she knew to be safe.

And there was her answer, right in front of her just a moment later.

Fluttershy's home.

To call the cozy home, surrounded by its numerous bird cages and animals a welcome sight would be the greatest understatement in history. So relieved was the unicorn to finally have something familiar to grasp onto in this turmoil that she allowed her legs to slow to a confident jog.

She was so happy to have found a haven, she didn't bother to knock. Instead, she simply pushed to door open with her hoof.

And was greeted with another gruesome sight.

The bodies of small animals were scattered across the floor. Bunnies, mice, birds of varying breed, all were peppered across the floor in mangled, bloody heaps, and at the center of this massacre stood an enormous bear, the tops of his ears just missing the ceiling of the house.

The bear was a bizarre image, with a long scar crossing his left eye, covered by a black eye patch. He wore a carpenter's apron, the pockets of which were filled with a large yellow pot with the word "glue" painted on it, and a large wooden hammer. In his left paw he held a large burlap sack and in his right he held…he held…

Fluttershy.

In that moment, everything crystalized. Twilight saw everything happening, so slowly she wondered if she'd cast a time spell.

There was no question if she was alive, the enormous indention in the back of her skull told Twilight that much. The blood that dripped from the yellow pony's mouth and eye sockets only reinforced it. Her body hung limply, held aloft by her pink tail, gripped in the monstrous forepaw of the bear.

After what felt like an eternity, the body finally fell from view into the burlap sack, but the image stayed in Twilight's mind. She saw all of what was going on, but she couldn't comprehend it.

Fluttershy couldn't be dead. No. It was something that shouldn't, _couldn't_ happen.

And then Twilight did what anypony would have done. She shut down. Her mind wouldn't…wouldn't process what she'd seen. The animals, the monstrous creature that was stumbling slowly towards her, the ear splitting scream that erupted from her throat, it all happened, and she _knew_ it was happening, but her brain refused to register it.

The bear didn't seemed bothered or rushed by her cries, as he advanced towards her with a slow, patient stride. He did not change his pace even as the purple unicorn's body instinctively stepped back from the door. He moved forward, and stooped his massive from over, somehow fitting himself through the pony-sized doorway, his deep, emotionless black eye pinned directly on her.

* * *

><p>Krastos was not concerned with the pony trying to run, as he knew it was only a matter of time before he found her, or another of her kind, and made them fall beneath his hammer. He had known immediately that he'd found what he was looking for when he had opened the door of the small house, and spotted the small yellow pony pressing her hoof onto the mouth of a small rabbit.<p>

When he'd entered, the many animals inside the house had attacked him, perhaps trying to defend their owner, perhaps simply protecting their territory. It didn't matter. They had all been killed in short measure with a few swipes of his claws and teeth.

The yellow pony had tried to flee, but had been just as feeble at it as the purple one before him now. She'd pleaded to leave her alone, to stop harming the creatures as they continued to assault him, and in her last moments had even tried to assert her will against his.

But Krastos had felt nothing as her stared bored into his single eye. He was a creature of strength, of pure force of will, and nothing could prevent him from serving his purpose. He was Krastos, the Glue Maker, and the pony's hooves and bones and ligaments would provide him with the material to make it.

A single swing of his hammer was all it took to end her pleas, and her life. The creature had fallen limp and lifeless to the floor, and had stowed his hammer into the pocket of his apron. Then, just as he was working to place the body inside his sack, the purple one had barged in. But he had not stopped, for another source of glue was not something that should make him pause before the work for the first had been completed.

She screamed and backed away as he approached her, the yellow one now stowed safely away. He did not strain his pace, as he knew what it was he would do. Not _try_ to do, would do. For even if she ran now, and kept running until her body collapsed, he would find her eventually, as he was untiring, unstoppable.

But she did not run. Perhaps she thought she could fight Krastos, perhaps she was too scared to understand what was about to happen. The bear reached down, felt the familiar handle of his hammer gripped in his paw, and lifted the tool up.

Krastos took careful aim with his single eye, and swung.

* * *

><p>Seth didn't know how, but he got there just in time. He'd never run that fast, be it in human or pony form, but he'd managed to reach Twilight in time.<p>

He'd first thought the screams were to do with Pinkie Pie. He had though she might have ventured outside of Ponyville to catch somepony unsuspecting, but then he'd crested a hill in the road and spotted the scene in front of Fluttershy's home.

He hadn't been able to make any sense of it. There was a bear with an eye patch, a hammer, and a sack, that was slowly walking towards a terrified Twilight Sparkle. If Seth had a "Strangest God Damn Picture You Can Think of" checklist, all he'd be missing was something on fire.

But Seth hadn't really had time to think about it. All that went through his mind was that Twilight was in trouble, and he needed to help her. His legs carried him faster than he thought was possible, and the yellow unicorn launched himself forward, rammed into Twilight's side, sending them both skidding to the ground, just clear of the Hammer's swing.

It took but a second for the two unicorns to get back up, but Seth knew they didn't have time to stick around.

"Twilight, c'mon! We've gotta get out of here."

The purple Unicorn was still in a daze. When the bear had started to attack, she had been sure that she was facing her end. But then this pony…the strange one from before. He'd come out of nowhere and saved her. But they were still in danger now, as the bear was regrouping from his missed swing, and stepping slowly towards them.

Seth could tell that something was wrong with Twilight. Even at her most confused in the show she'd never moved in such a confused fashion. The little he'd just said to her seemed to be taking forever to register with the unicorn.

Taking matters into his own hooves, Seth quickly grabbed her purple man and yanked forward. That, at least, seemed to bring her back to reality some. She took one look at the advancing bear, turned and bolted, Seth following right alongside her.

The pair of unicorns ran towards the bear's left. Seth wasn't sure if it was just dumb luck or good planning on Twilight's part, but they had chosen the area in their attacker's blind spot, and the creature seemed slow to move. But Seth didn't have time to contemplate tactics for long. Right now he had to concentrate on keeping up with the panicked unicorn next to him, who looked to have been training as a race horse by her pace.

But, miraculously Seth was able to keep up. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw as Fluttershy's house passed out of view behind the hill, and realize they were leaving their attacker in the dust. In fact, the creature was still moving as slowly as he'd been when they were right in front of him.

_That bear…I know I've seen him somewhere before. But where? I know something like _that_ would never make it onto the show, so it must be something from the fanfics or fan art. But just what in the heck is _that _supposed to be?_

These thoughts consumed Seth for several minutes. He was certain he'd seen that bear in relation to _My Little Pony_ beforehand, but for the life of him he couldn't remember where. For some reason, he could have sworn it had something to do with Bill Clinton. He was lost in thought for so long, it took until they were coming into view of the Library for Seth to realize they'd made it back into Ponyville.

Twilight Sparkle was still right by his side, though he couldn't tell for certain if she was even aware of his presence. She still seemed pretty out of it after the attack, and he couldn't say he blamed her. While she and her friends had faced a lot of strange and bizarre creatures, so have to face something that was made up by the _fans_ of the show had to be a shock. Heck, it was a shock to him and he didn't even live in this universe.

At least they were about to get somewhere safe.

Or not.

As they reached the door of the library, Twilight frantically lifted her hoof to slam the door open, and was rewarded for her efforts by getting a magical shock straight up her hoof. She recoiled with a frightened yelp, barely managing to keep her hooves from tripping over themselves.

"What in the name of Celestia?" she asked, looking from the door to her hoof.

"Darn it! They must have already set the barriers up!" Seth exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do now?"

For what appeared to be the first time, Twilight noticed that Seth was still with her.

"Wha? You…they let you out? And what do you mean they set up the barriers? Why would they do that?"

"Well," Seth said, unsure how to answer. After a moment of deliberation, he decided going for the truth would be the best idea. Put your best hoof forward and all that, right? "they didn't actually let me out. I…I tried teleporting out to escape, and instead ended up causing an explosion that knocked out the wall."

"What!"

"Yeah. You see, I was trying to find the necklace myself, and that way I'd be able to prove me innocence! But I got turned around, and ended up near Fluttershy's house, where I, um, 'ran into' you."

"Fluttershy…" Twilight suddenly got a far off look in her eyes. She broke eye contact with Seth, staring at the ground as it slowly darkened with tears.

"What? What happened to her?"

"That…that bear…got her."

Seth didn't know what to say to that. To think that…that Fluttershy of all ponies was dead. And dead at the hands…er, paws, of that monster. What was that thing? He knew he'd seen a drawing of it somewhere before, just where?

Then it hit him.

Krastos the Glue Maker.

"Wait…" Twilight said, looking back at Seth. "How do you know who Fluttershy is? And how did you know that was her house? You said you'd never been to Ponyville!"

The purple pony stepped forward, her hoof pointing accusingly at Seth.

"Just who _are _you? How do you know all of this stuff? What was that nonsense you were spouting all that crazy talk back at Town Hall?"

"Um…well…" Seth wasn't sure the whole "tell the truth" was working for him. But he couldn't' come up with anything better so…

"Look, you're not going to believe this. Hell, I don't even believe this is real, but you've got to at least listen to me," Seth began. "I'm not from Equestria, or even this world. Until this morning, I wasn't even a pony. My name is Seth, and I'm from universe entirely different from yours. I'm a human, a different kind of life form that you don't have here.

"In my world, your entire world, entire universe, everypony you know and love, is all fictional. You're a television show."

"Television show?"

"Oh, right…you don't have television here. Well, I'll explain it like this. You know how you have made-up stories in books that are about tons of different adventures? Well that's kind of what television is…except it's not. The point is, people in my world know about the adventures and stuff that happen with you, and Rarity and Pinkie and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and Applejack and the Cuties Mark Crusaders and all the other ponies in Ponyville."

"Well, you got the part about me not believing you true. If you're going to lie, at least try to tell something convincing."

"No! I'm telling you the truth, I promise. I'll even swear! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

That made Twilight pause. That was Pinkie Pie's "Pinkie Swear", and as far as she knew, only a handful of ponies had ever seen it. How in the world did this stranger who spoke about nonsensical inventions know about it?

"I can prove it! I know all about the different stuff you've done with the others. You and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had a conversation about Fluttershy being a tree while on the way to Appleoosa! And when had a sleepover with Rarity and Applejack, and a tree ended up inside the library!"

"Wait, you've been watching me sleep?" Twilight exclaimed, shocked. She backed away from him quickly.

"What? No, I-" Seth was floundering. How in the heck could he convince her he was serious? "Listen, I know it's crazy, and it doesn't make sense, but please, please just try to believe me. Don't you have, like, an honesty spell that you could use to ensure I'm genuine?"

Twilight scoffed at the idea.

"Why should I? I know you're lying! Even if I _did_ have a spell like that, I wouldn't be able to get to it, seeing as you causing trouble has gotten me locked out of my own library!"

"My my, Twilight Sparkle, you're telling me there's a spell you don't know? And I thought you were the most _great_ and _powerful_ unicorn in Ponyville."

_There's no damn way._

Seth and Twilight turned in unison. The pair had been so enveloped in their own discussion that they hadn't even noticed the blue unicorn that had approached them. She was clothed not in her trademark star-patterned cape and wizards had, but in a heavy, black cloak, the hood pulled back from her head.

The Great and Powerful Trixie stood before them, and nonchalantly blue a bit of tuff of her white mane out of her face.

_Okay, it's official. This universe is just straight up fucking with me now._

* * *

><p>Scootaloo had been unresponsive for nearly 10 minutes, but still Rainbow Dash wouldn't leave the tiny filly's mangled body alone. Even when the Mayor had made the announcement about setting the barriers up again, she hadn't paused in her attacks. She couldn't. She wouldn't let her be dead. The orange Pegasus was meant to be Rainbow's successor. She was meant to be even better than Dash herself. She couldn't get away with staying down like this!<p>

_Get up! Get up you worthless little squirt! I won't let you give us just because things get tough! Get. The. Hell. Up!_

Kick after kick after kick failed to garner any response from the orange Pegasus, and it was only now that Rainbow Dash realized there wasn't any more blood or bruising coming up. Every time she struck Scootaloo, all that changed was the body's position.

_No, no, no, no, NO! Get up you quitter! That's the coward's way out. You take the pain that I've had to! You're supposed to take it! Stop it! GET UP! GET UP DAMMIT!_

_ …Get up. If you can't stand it…how can I?_

After nearly an hour, Rainbow Dash finally relented. All four of her hooves ached from it, but she couldn't even begin to imagine what Scootaloo had been through before…before…

The tiny, broken filly was motionless in the grass. Her eyes were closed, underneath the swelling and bruising. Strangely, even in her abused state, the little pony looked peaceful, like perhaps she'd found some bit of comfort in her final moments.

But that was just wishful thinking. Rainbow Dash didn't know what had made her do it, or why she'd kept going, but she'd killed the little filly, and she'd done it in a horrible, painful, awful way.

She should feel awful. She should feel like an awful, terrible being. But she didn't. She didn't feel…anything. Every time she looked at that pitiful little kid, sitting still as a statue in the grass before her, she just felt like there was nothing inside her.

She was hollow.

She didn't even feel fear when she saw a bouncing pink pony came hopping into view wearing a necklace of unicorn horns and a vest made of flayed, uncured pony skin. Before, she'd have been terrified. She'd have gotten up from the ground, flown as high and fast into the sky as possible. But now it just didn't feel worth it. There was no fear left, there was…nothing.

Pinkie Pie stood before the blue Pegasus, grinning from ear to ear and a demented look in her eye. She was surprised at how docile her friend was acting. After their shared dream, Pinkie had been expecting the blue Pegasus to put up a fight, to run, to not come quietly. But maybe Rainbow Dash finally understood.

Pinkie Pie didn't make the rules, but she had to follow them. Her friend's number had come up, and that meant her time was up. It was both sad and happy really. Their friendship was coming to an end, but hopefully Rainbow Dash would last longer than Mr. and Mrs. Cake. The pink earth pony's former employers had both passed out so quickly, and even the adrenaline injections had only managed to keep them barely awake.

But Rainbow Dash was a strong pony! She was the one who, just as a filly, and accomplished the Sonic Rainboom that helped Pinkie gain her Cutie Mark to begin with. If she could survive breaking the sound and light barriers simultaneously, then surely she'd be capable of lasting a few hours on the slab.

Though, it seemed they wouldn't be able to use Pinkie's room for right now that the mayor had set up the magical defenses again. Oh well, Pinkie Pie was a smart pony, despite what some thought. She could find a good way to improvise on the outside, and once everypony had calmed down about the necklace, they'd be able to have tons of fun at Sugar Cube Corner.

"Hey ya there Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie greeted her. The rainbow maned mare didn't respond, instead simply turning her gaze back to the tiny bundle that lay on the ground a few feet from the pair.

"Oh my goodness!" Pinkie said, taking a closer look at the little Pegasus' body. "This is horrible! Did you do this, Rainbow?"

"…Yeah…"

"Well I just can't believe you'd do something like this! I thought you took pride in your work, but this is just so shoddy. I mean look, you probably would have destroyed her cutie mark if she had one, how were you going to cut it off if it wasn't even there anyway? You've got to put more care into it, or else you end up with a big mess. I mean, just _look_ at all the blood that's been lost, you can see it all over the grass! I mean, did you even try to keep the wings intact? One of them is completely shattered, and the other is missing half its feathers!"

Even if she'd been in a proper state of mind, Rainbow Dash wouldn't have known how to react to what Pinkie was saying. She was actually criticizing how she'd killed Scootaloo? And what was this about taking a cutie mark that wasn't there, and the wings? Then again, did it really matter if she was good or bad about it? She'd just killed a little kid who'd done nothing but practically worship the ground and clouds she stepped upon.

Why was Pinkie Pie here, anyway?

"Hmm…" the pink pony grumbled under her breath. "Well, this'll make it harder to get you back home, but I suppose I can't let some perfectly good material go to waste. Still, the wings look pretty salvageable as long as I'm careful. She's small, so she should have pretty fragile bones, thankfully enough. Hey Rainbow, would you mind terribly staying awake long enough to help find a knife? After all, I don't want to have to drag her around too. She's not very heavy but it'll be awkward to carry."

"Pinkie…what's wrong with you? Why are you doing this?"

Even with this insanity staring her straight in the face, Rainbow Dash couldn't get scared, or angry, or anything else. The strongest emotion she felt just then was mild curiosity concerning her friend's sudden menace.

"Well, to tell you the truth, it's kind of sad. You see, your number came up…and now it's time for me to take you back to my workshop."

As Pinkie Pie shifted around, Dash took notice of the vest pinkie had adorned herself with. The left side was yellow, with an image of three square cakes with white icing. The right was blue with an image of three cupcakes emblazoned on it. Those seemed familiar to Rainbow Dash for some reason.

"Are those…the Cakes' Cutie Marks?"

"Oh!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, looking down at her gruesome garb. "Oh yeah, well, you remember last night when you said you didn't think a dress made out of pony skin would look good? Well, I figured I could make it and prove you wrong. I was going to show it to Rarity too, but I couldn't even get close to her house. The smoke was so strong."

"Smoke?"

"Yeah, the _whole_ boutique was on fire. I don't know what Rarity was thinking, but I'm pretty sure nopony will want to wear dresses that are on fire. Still, I'm sure she'll be able to do it. After all, she did make all our dresses in just one day; she can do anything if she gets enough musical numbers."

"Pinkie Pie, you are so…" Rainbow sighed. Even Pinkie Pie's insanity wasn't interesting anymore. She laid her head into the grass and closed her eyes.

She didn't even flinch as she felt a cupcake shoved into mouth and down her throat.

* * *

><p>Pinkie Pie wasn't the only pony to see Carousel Boutique awash with flames. Applejack had been out looking for Apple Bloom when she'd spotted the inferno, and she knew she had to put the search for her sister on hold.<p>

Running at full speed, Applejack reached the boutique in no time flat, but by that time she could already tell things were worse than she'd thought.

A towering pillar of pitch black smoke rose from the top of the building. Red and orange flames danced and rolled inside the windows, and the smell of burning wood overpowered everything else.

_What in the hay happened here? Why isn't anypony helping put this out?_

But the answer was obvious. It had been nearly ten minutes now since the Mayor had sent out her psychic message to everypony in town, and if there was anypony around who was willing to help, they were likely trapped in their houses, unable to get inside.

_If they can't get out…neither can Rarity or Sweetie Belle. And I can't get in the help 'em!_

She knew it was stupid. She knew it was reckless. She knew that there wasn't even the slightest possibility that it would work. She didn't care. Her friend was likely in mortal danger, and she wasn't about to sit around on her flank at not do anything.

Applejack ran straight towards the door of the boutique, turned and jumped as she reached it, and smashed her back hooves against the door. Or rather, she smashed her hooves against an invisible wall. An electric shock wracked through her hindquarters, and the orange earth pony was blasted back from the door.

But Applejack was stubborn even in the most mundane of tasks, and she sure as sugar wasn't going to let something _this_ dire go. She reared back again, positioned herself in front of the door, and bucked back with all her might. Again she felt a shock run up her spine, and again she was shoved away from the door. But she wasn't going to give up.

Another buck, another blast, and another and another. She wouldn't give up. She couldn't. Her friend needed her, and even if it killed her, Applejack was going to save her.

She'd been applebucking for years, ever since she had been big enough to manage it, and the orange pony put every last drop of experience, strength, and heart into her kicks. Countless times her hooves banged against the invisible walls, and countless times she set up for another blow.

She hit, and hit, and hit.

And finally, she made contact…in a sense.

For the billionth time, her hooves smacked into the barrier, and she was prepared for another teeth-shaking buzz of painful energy. Instead, her efforts were rewarded with an explosion. A powerful blast of magic propelled the pony away from the door, face first into the dirt and grass of the yard, but the power wasn't focused just towards her. As she was thrown forward, Applejack heard a loud cracking behind her, and when she stood up, she saw that the door to Carousel Boutique had been blown clear away, the hinges having been ripped from the door frame.

Applejack didn't celebrate her accomplishment, but instead threw herself forward through the door way…and straight into the barriers again. With a now familiar jolt of power rocketing through her body, Applejack backed up, her confidence shaken. It appeared that while she'd managed to disrupt the barrier enough that it malfunctioned just a bit, she hadn't broken through.

_Consarnit!_

Applejack was about to buck at the barrier again, when she saw, through the heavy smoke that was quickly filling the rooms inside, a very familiar yellow filly in the midst of the chaos.

"Apple Bloom!"

The earth pony's sister was crouched in the center of the main room of the boutique, barely visible through the smoke, but her bright red mane and tail stood out enough for her to pick out. Applejack couldn't see what she way doing, but the Filly at least seemed unharmed. A flash of white through the smoke next to her told Applejack that either Rarity of Sweetie Belle was with the filly.

"Apple Bloom! Can ya hear me?" Applejack shouted into the building, trying to be heard over the roar of the flames.

"Applejack!" she heard the filly respond from the depths of the inferno. "What are you doing here?"

"That don't matter right now! I've got to get you out of there and quick. I can't see too well in there. Are Rarity and Sweetie Belle in there?"

The filly called out, but her answer was drowned out by the crashing sound of a wooden beam collapsing from the ceiling. The fiery hunk of lumber smashed to the ground only a few feet from where Apple Bloom was, and Applejack could barely see through the smoke that her sister was quickly moving close to the door.

The yellow filly emerged from the smoke, walking backwards. She seemed to be dragging something with her, keeping hold of a small white bundle with her teeth. Applejack wouldn't have recognized Sweetie Belle without the filly's purple and pink tail still intact. One of Sweetie's legs was mangled beyond recognition, with a large swath of muscle cut away, revealing pale white bone.

Her stomach was in a similar state, with a sizable chunk of flesh missing from Sweetie Belle's abdomen, to the point where even with the haze of smoke blocking her vision, Applejack had a very, _very_ clear look at her ribcage.

"Apple Bloom, what happened to Sweetie Belle? Is she…is she still alive?"

"I don't think so," Apple Bloom answered as she left go of the tiny white corpse and turned to face Applejack. It was only then that Applejack noticed the splash of red unevenly spread across her younger sister's face. "She stopped screaming a good long while ago, and she hasn't moved much since."

"Screaming? Apple Bloom just what in the world's been going on here? How'd you get inside there? Where's Rarity?"

"Well, Rarity's upstairs last I saw her, but I haven't heard any screaming out of her either. But that's not what's important sis. Look! I finally got my Cutie Mark!"

The yellow pony stuck her flank out towards Applejack, and there, clear as day, was the most morbid Cutie Mark she'd ever laid eyes on. It was a large white pony skull, with a knife and fork crossed behind it.

A knife and fork…

"Apple Bloom…how did you get that blood on your face."

The yellow filly smiled up at her sister, a look of unending pride for herself in her eyes.

"Well sis, I guess you could call me a can-apple now. Sweetie Belle actually tasted a lot like marshmallows if you'd believe it. Pretty weird huh?"

No…it couldn't really be. This was some awful prank by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were just trying to make a joke, and going about it in an awful way. What Apple Bloom was claiming to have done was…sick wasn't a strong enough word for it. It was absolutely _unthinkable_.

"No, no, there's just no way!" Applejack exclaimed nervously backing up a pace from the door. "You're joking. You wouldn't ever do something like that!"

"Aw c'mon sis, stop acting like I'm just a baby pony! I did it and I'm proud of it! I finally found what it is that makes me special, and you can't even be happy about it?"

This was…this wasn't real. It couldn't be. She and Apple Bloom were hallucinating from shock, or from all the smoke. This was all just going to be a messed up story to tell everypony when they got out of this.

If they got out of this.

"That's not what we gotta worry about right now! You stand back some, and I'm gonna try to get this barrier down. You be ready to run out as soon as I say so, alright?"

"Okey doke!"

The deranged little pony moved back from the door, looking behind her from time to time, keeping an eye out for any more falling timber. With renewed vigor and desperation, Applejack resumed her battering of the barriers. She kicked and kicked at the barrier, staying her ground each time the magical force shot its way through her legs.

Soon she felt blood beginning to drip from her hind hooves. She hadn't been injured like that since she'd first started applebucking, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Applejack was never going to let a little thing like pain keeps her from protecting her loved ones.

But it seemed she might not have much more time to rupture the invisible wall between them. As Applejack was hammering furiously away, more and more of Carousel Boutique was falling in upon itself. Several more support beams had come crashing to the ground, piling on top of one another in a deadly pyre. The smoke was getting thicker and harder to avoid, even for the low set Apple Bloom. She had her nose shoved to the ground, as low as she could get it, trying to avoid breathing in the toxic gas.

After what could very well have been her thousandth kick in the past few minutes, Applejack thought she felt the barrier give, if only the slightest bit. At first she thought she was imagining it, but her next kick confirmed it. It wasn't much, and the barrier was still standing strong, but she was making progress.

After several more kicks, a piercing pain shot through the earth pony's flank. It seemed her body couldn't keep this up more.

_Well too bad, you're just gonna have to deal with it, because I'm not about to let you stop here. I don't know what's going on with Apple Bloom's head, but I do know that things'll be a whole heck of a lot worse if I don't get her out of there. So to heck with these darn shields!_

She pushed on. Every new kick now came with a splitting ache as well as the usual magical shock, but Applejack could feel the wall weakening against her onslaught, and she wasn't going to let it stop.

With another kick, she felt something crack; her leg. But her hind hoof wasn't the only thing to break. Behind her, a spark of energy fired out of the space occupied by the invisible wall. And suddenly Applejack was flying forward, an electric current surging through her entire bad, before slamming headfirst into a tree nearly 30 feet away from doorway.

Dazed, and in horrible pain, Applejack raised her head. She knew the feeling well enough to recognize that she'd just experienced the barrier glitching out again, but stronger than the last time.

What was worse, this time it had caused more damage than blowing the door off.

The front of the inferno that had once been Ponyville's popular fashion boutique was not bowing low under its own weight. The explosion had torn apart the wall surrounding the doorway, and through the huge gap, Applejack spotted Apple Bloom's motionless form lying on the ground amongst the debris and rubble.

Uneasy on her feet, Applejack limped her way to the destroyed, broiling house, and tested the barrier. It was as strong as ever again, and she knew that there was no way she could break it in this condition.

It didn't matter anyway. As she stared at her sister, so close yet so far away, the death knell rang out in the sound of collapsing, crumbling wood. Even though she knew it wouldn't work, even though she knew the only thing she'd be accomplishing by doing it was to risk getting herself killed alongside Apple Bloom, Applejack reared back and smashed her hooves into the barrier. Apple Bloom shouted something, but whatever the filly said was cut off as the entirety of Carousel Boutique fell down upon her.

It seemed the barrier was keeping everything but the smoke and dust trapped within its confines, as even though Applejack was mere inches from the disaster, she remained untouched by it. The blackened, broken wood still burned in the heap, though the flames, bereft of any new fuel, were quickly shrinking back.

Then Applejack saw her.

Apple Bloom lay near the top of the pile, likely having been trying to escape. Her back legs were trapped beneath a large smoldering pillar. Now it wasn't just Sweetie Belle's blood coating the yellow muzzles, but her own as well. The little filly's fragile neck was twisted at a grotesque, unnatural angle from her body.

Applejack knew she couldn't saver her sister. She knew she'd failed.

And she knew she couldn't even reach filly's body, and close her blank, lifeless eyes.

* * *

><p>Derrick Burliton carefully position his notes in front of him, straightening them on the table, cleared his throat, and sat up straight as the camera man signaled that they were coming back on air.<p>

"We have a reporter on the scene of the recent tragedy in Washington D.C. joining us now via satellite," the news reporter spoke into the camera, doing his best to keep a sober face. "Live from the scene of the disaster is reporter Shelly Banks. Shelly, are you with us?"

A short pause, and then the news feed cut to the field reporter. She was young, only 24 or so, with dark brown hair. She was in a suit, business cut. She wore no jewelry and only a light bit of makeup, to make her seem more relatable and believable for the report.

"Yes, I'm here Derrick," Shelly announced. She was standing directly in front of a large building. Or rather, she was standing in front of the ruins of a building that just earlier that day had been a tall hotel.

"I'm standing here in front of the Hilton Washington Hotel in Washington D.C." she continued, keeping the microphone held just a few inches from her face. "Just this morning, this building was known as a fine hotel and convention hall, this week housing a Sci-fi convention known as 'Intervention-Con,' but now the home of an awful, as of yet unexplained tragedy.

"There are a lot of different stories going around amongst people who witnessed it, but authorities haven't released any statement. We're currently waiting for an official press release, but in the meant time, we've collected interviews with numerous people who claim to have seen it."

After a pause, the feed then cut to a recording of a young man, brown hair down past his shoulders, wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words "Han Shot First."

"Well, I dunno what to call it. It was so freaky. I had gone out to get something for lunch, and as I'm walking back I see it way up in the sky. There was this, this big cloud of bugs or birds or something, and it just flew down straight at the hotel. I couldn't really see anything through it, but I heard a lot of screaming and crashing. It went on for like, 20 minutes, and then the cloud just got up and left. Flew right back into the sky."

Next up was an older woman, black hair with hints of gray at the roots.

"Well, I didn't see all of it, but as I was turning the corner, there seemed to be this large…black something where the building was meant to be. I don't know exactly what to call it…have you ever seen the movie The Birds? It kind of reminded me of that."

Next up, a business man, his hair a bit disheveled, who looked happy for the chance to talk into a camera.

"See it? Oh I saw it alright. There was this huge explosion across the way, and the building doesn't even start to crumble. It starts to _dissolve_. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie…kind of ironic don't you think? Still, it was so bizarre."

The feed cut away from him, with just the faintest sound of him asking when the spot will air, and next focused on another young guy, in a torn T-shirt with a rainbows silhouette on the front. His hair was messy, and looked as if it hadn't been washed in nearly three days.

"I'm gonna sound crazy but…I know what attacked the place. I'd just left the building, and the things started buzzing down onto the building, they were these big, multicolored sphere-shaped things, with huge eyes and insect wings, and they all just moved in this huge horde. The all started opening their mouths and biting – _biting_ – straight into the stone and brick. It was… it was completely freaky. I got out of there real quick, but I saw something when I came back

"Look at – at the part of the building that they touched. It's only the side the convention area was on. Everything else wasn't even touched. And I know what it was that attacked too. It's these things I saw from this show…they're called 'parasprites' and they're like, like locusts on steroids. I don't know how they actually exist but…but man it's just…"

The new feed then cut back to the reporter, who was struggling to suppress a smirk.

"As you can see, Derrick, there's a lot of panic and hysteria going on right now. Some have even claimed they believe this to be a terrorist attack, possibly an attempt to intimidate the government, or even make a threat on the president's life."

The screen split in two, so that now the both the reporter and the man at the news desk were on screen.

"Yes, we had heard rumors about something like that," he responded after a short pause. "So far neither the White House, nor any members of congress have released any responses to this. Though, thankfully if this was some type of attack, the president is currently out of town."

"That is true, though due to the nature of the attack there are Secret Service agents on the scene along with police, firefighters, and medical personnel," Shelly answered, preparing to sign off. "Currently all available rescue workers are sifting through the area, searching for any survivors or bodies. We'll keep you there at the station up to date on anything that happens here Derrick."

"Thank you Shelly, we'll be sure to follow up later."

The left side of the screen expanded until only Derrick Burliton remained on screen.

"Well, we will certainly be keeping an eye on everything happening there today, and we'll be checking up periodically with Shelley for any new developments. If you want to follow the story as it is happening, you can follow our channel on twitter or facebook, where we'll be posting updates every half-hour."

* * *

><p>Darkness.<p>

An ache in her wings was what woke Rainbow Dash from her stupor.

She was in impenetrable darkness, unable to see her nose in front of her eyes.

She knew where she was without having to see. She had already been here twice in the last two days, and this time felt just as real as the other. The Pegasus knew without having to test it that she was restrained by all four legs, spread-eagle across a metal table, wings pinned with nails to her side.

Rainbow wasn't the least bit surprised when Pinkie Pie's instantly recognizable giggle echoed across the darkness. That was exactly how it had happened in her dream the last two nights. Right on cue, the orange flames of a hanging oil lamp came on above her, and Rainbow Dash was temporarily blinded. She'd know it was coming, but she felt no urge to stop it.

This was how it was all supposed to go. It would all have to play out, just like her dream.

"Oh Rainbow Daaaash? You know, that wasn't very polite going to sleep on me like that. I had to drag you all the way here, along with Scootaloo. It took forever to find this cave though."

"Cave?"

"Uh huh. I really wish you'd have stayed up, I had to find Harry's cave all on my own. And he didn't seem too happy to see me. But I managed to get him to calm down too."

_Harry…that wasn't part of the dream!_

"Harry?"

"You know, that bear you and Fluttershy were house sitting for when I invited you to Gummie's after birthday party? Well, this is his cave. Don't you recognize it? Though maybe he just redecorated since then. After all, this doesn't exactly feel like much of a home. Maybe he just keeps it cozy when he knows somepony's going to come over."

That…didn't make even a bit of sense. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had made that lie up on the spot, and hadn't even done it very well. How in the world had Pinkie Pie managed to find a bear cave? How had she found a bear cave that was furnished with a metal table with restraints? How had she gotten _into_ a bear cave unscathed, all while carrying Rainbow Dash?

"But I don't think there's a lot more time for small talk, Rainbow. It's time to get baking!"

That one line echoed around the cave as Pinkie Pie stepped closer to the table, and into the light. The necklace hung from her neck, just as sparklingly pristine as always, with each horn gleaming in the flickering light of the enormous lamp above them. It seemed she'd added to her vest, which was now beginning to look like a cape with the addition of Scootaloo's tiny orange wings. It seemed Pinkie Pie had been right about them being salvageable. Looking at them now, one wouldn't have thought they'd been crushed beneath Rainbow Dash's hooves just a few hours prior.

Pinkie Pie seemed to be just as jovial as always, her eternal grin plastered on her face. If Rainbow Dash didn't know better, she might have thought Pinkie was just playing a prank, but she'd seen enough, both awake and asleep, to tell her that the pink earth pony was deadly serious about this.

"You ready Rainbow Dash? You and I are about to make some _delicious_ cupcakes!"

* * *

><p>Applejack limped through the doorway of the barn, every movement, no matter how slight, causing her to wince and ache. She'd slowly walked back to the farm, after over an hour of waiting. The barriers still hadn't gone away, and Apple Bloom hadn't so much as twitched.<p>

She knew it was over. Her sister was dead, and she'd let it happen. She hadn't kept an eye on her, and she'd ended up trapped inside death trap. Applejack had been…useless. She couldn't protect her, she couldn't save her, she couldn't even comfort her in her final moments.

She was worthless.

She hurt.

But she knew where she could find something that would make her stop hurting, if only for a little bit. The three little fillies had certainly been playing with the machine in the barn that night. Nearly half the glass tank was filled with golden cider, bubbling and warm inside the sun-heated barn.

The orange earth pony tumbled to the ground, just barely managing to move her head and avoid hitting the tap. She slowly and painfully positioned her heat beneath the metal spigot, and reached up with her hoof to let the tap open. The golden nectar poured down into her waiting mouth, splashing and sloshing down her chin.

Applejack drank and gulped and slurped, waiting for the haze of the cider to rear its head. She wanted to be numb, separated from this whole mess. To have a respite from the fear, the pain, and most of all the loss.

She'd gotten a clear look at Apple Bloom's flank while she'd sat sentry outside the ruins of Carousel Boutique, and it had indeed been the same as when the filly had shown it off. A skull and cross bones, but with utensils in the place of bones. So that meant she really had been…been eating Sweetie Belle.

It was too much to take, something so foreign and awful that her mind couldn't process the concept. How could her sister be a cannibal? How could any of this stuff being happening in Ponyville. They'd had their emergencies before, but now there were killers, fires, cannibals…just where in Equestria was all this awfulness coming from?

Thinking about this just made Applejack hurt more. SO she closed her eyes as the now welcome warmth spread its way through her body, and her mind faded into a haze of numbing comfort.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Twilight didn't know what to make of the situation.

After all the bizarre, confusing horrors she'd just experienced, running into the performing unicorn Trixie had been far down on her list of things she expected. And what was more, the unicorn had apparently been looking for her.

"Trixie?" Seth shouted. "What in the…you're here now too?"

Trixie turned her attention away from Twilight, but only long enough to get a glimpse of the red maned unicorn. Then she immediately brought her stare back upon Twilight.

"Does Trixie know you?" she said, not even glancing back at Seth as she spoke.

"Well, um no. I guess you wouldn't. But I know you…"

"An admirer of my shows, no doubt," Trixie responded with a condescending smirk, still not bothering to look at Seth. "But I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit before you can get my autograph. Twilight Sparkle and I have something to…discuss."

The blue unicorn stepped forward, closing the small gap between her and Twilight, her gaze only growing more intense. Twilight took a step back from the uncomfortably close unicorn, and promptly felt her tail brush the outside of the barriers, sending a slight shock up the unicorn's back.

"W-what do you want Trixie? I thought you got out of here after the incident with the Ursa Minor?"

"Ah yes, that little fiasco. It wasn't exactly one of my prouder moments. But I've learned since then. And it's true, actually, that I never intended to return to this place. My pride certainly was bruised. But ever since I've left, there's been this nagging little sensation in the back of my mind."

Trixie was even close now. Twilight was just barely skirting the edge of the magical defenses around the library, and yet there was still barely a few inches between the two unicorns. The look in Trixie's eyes was unsettling, to say the least. Twilight felt like a rabbit being stared down by a manticore as the blue pony inched closer to her.

"Um, well, that's a lovely story and I'd love to hear more of it later, but would it be too much to ask for you to step back a bit. I could use the breathing room."

That elicited a hardy chuckle from Trixie, who nonetheless ceased her approach, though she certainly didn't move away.

"Oh, but I think you'd like to hear this story now. It's actually rather fascinating if I do say so myself. I can't explain everything about it, but it really is quite the tale."

Seth didn't know what to make of this whole situation. He'd just escaped from a monstrous one-eyed bear with a war hammer, and found himself in what almost looked like a scene from a fanfic. The fact that Trixie was here at all was perplexing enough, but the way she was creeping towards Twilight had him completely befuddled.

"Everything began not long after I fled Ponyville," Trixie began. "The ursa had destroyed most of my possessions, and I'd left what little I did have behind in my haste to escape. But I managed to reach Fillydelphia without too much trouble.

"But wouldn't you know, that wasn't where things would end for me? As soon as I'd arrived there, an enormous cloud of smoke started spreading across the sky. The ponies in Fillydelphia had seen my show before, and they asked me to try and banish the smoke. I agreed to do it, in exchange for clothing and housing, but when it finally came time to do it, you know what happened? My magic wouldn't work.

"I tried. Oh I certainly tried to clear the sky, but I could barely summon the tiniest spark of magical power. I was humiliated, a complete and utter laughing stock. The ponies there thought I was worthless, and that I'd been doing nothing but talking myself up. They let me stay, but they ignored me, and belittled me behind my back.

"And then, just a day later, the smoke dissipated, and what news did I hear through the grapevine? That a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle and her friends, sent by none other than Princess Celestia herself, had managed to defeat the dragon that had been causing the smoke in the first place. You have no clue how much anger I felt at that news. It wasn't enough that you'd humiliated me by vanquishing that ursa, now you were upstaging me without even being in the same town and me."

"Well, to be fair, I wasn't the one who stopped the dragon. That was my friends Flu-"

"But that wasn't the last humiliation you dealt me," Trixie interrupted Twilight's interruption. "Not long after that, Fillydelphia was menaced by an infestation of parasprites. There was pandemonium, and again I couldn't use my magic to fix it. No matter how much work I put into it, nothing would happen. I couldn't even levitate things.

"Then who of all ponies came to stop the ravaging disaster but Princess Celestia herself. With her magic she made quick work of the pests, she didn't even break a sweat. When she was asked about it afterwards, she mentioned another infestation not too far from the town, in another little village called Ponyville. And she just had to mention how her most trustworthy, faithful student Twilight Sparkle and friends had found their own way of stopping the problem."

"Wait," Seth interjected. "That was real? I always thought Celestia was making that up so Twilight wouldn't be worried about Ponyville getting wrecked before her visit."

"As I was saying," Trixie said through clenched teeth, again breaking her stare to glare at Seth. "I was one more reminded of you, and the degradation you dealt me. You were gaining more and more recognition for your power, while I was powerless, weak, a shadow of my former self. I was at my low point, and yet you would still find a way to kick me while I was down."

"Trixie, this is crazy!" Twilight said, trying her best to sound assertive. It wasn't easy with her in such a vulnerable position. While she had been talking, Trixie had been moving ever and ever close, with her nose just a couple of inches from Twilight's face. "I didn't have anything to do with your problems. You were the one who kept boasting and bragging about things you'd never done! You need to get over your issues"

"That's what being a showman is all about! Making yourself large than life, bigger than you can believe. And I _did_ get my issues in order, thank you very much. At least for a time. But as I said, you would come back to haunt me yet again, months later when you came to the Grand Galloping Gala with your friends.

"I had spent months working myself back up. I'd finally begun to get my magic back. Not all of it, but enough that I could put on a performance, and show everypony that I was _back_. After impressing one of the royal head hunters, I managed to become, of all things, one of the headlining performers for the Grand Galloping Gala's entertainment."

"Oh god," Seth said under his breath. "I know where this is going."

"I was set to perform right after _Octavia & Strings_ that night. I'd spent weeks preparing everything. I had even gotten more control of my magic. But as I was waiting, a pink pony in a frilly dress burst in and disrupted the entire ballroom. She jumped on stage and sang some ridiculous song. Then came your friends with the rainbow mane, who managed to throw the entire ballroom into pandemonium when she knocked over that statue. Next your white unicorn friend caused a racket by assaulting Prince Blue Blood, and then a yellow Pegasus burst into the castle with a horde of animals with her.

"And who do I see running away with all these ponies that destroyed my night? _You!"_

With this hiss, Trixie's spit splatted onto Twilight's cheek.

"You. Always you. Every single time, since the day I came to Ponyville, you've been connected to my misfortune, always finding a way to upstage me, or to dethrone me. That's when I figured it out. The reason I lost my magic, why I've lost it again since that night, is because you've destroyed my confidence.

"And I've finally found the only way to get it back."

Before Twilight knew what was happening, Trixie had shoved her back, straight into the barrier. The blue unicorn darted her head forward, and Twilight flinched, turning her head to her side. The purple unicorn closed her eyes, unsure of what Trixie was doing…and felt a cold tongue on her cheek.

Her eyes shot open, and Twilight got a full frontal view of Trixie, eyes half closed, slowly licking up and down around her ear.

Seth, seeing all this from a few feet away, didn't know how to react. The other stuff had been bizarre, unnatural, and unsettling. But this? This was in another echelon. He felt uncomfortable having anything to do with it, even as a passive observer. This, as well as Trixie's story, felt like something right out of a fanfic…

A Fanfic. That was it! Seth finally realized where he knew that bear from. It was exactly like a drawing a fan had made of "Krastos the Glue Maker," a joke character thought up for a joke on NPR regarding bronies. A bear with a big mallet and a sack to carry the ponies he killed, and a glue pot.

But that was just a joke…not even from an actual fanfic…and then there was that necklace. That necklace was definitely from the "Cupcakes" fanfic. And now this whole tale of Trixie? Just what in the heck was going on with this world?

It was like…the creatures and character interpretations from the fan stories were invading the real deal. But how?

Meanwhile Twilight was having a considerably less enlightening experience with this encounter. She was pressed up against the magical barrier, and she could feel its power pulsing through her. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to the mental anguish brought about by Trixie's administrations.

The magic shook through the purple unicorn, and her body rattled in reaction. Taking her tongue away from Twilight's face for a moment, Trixie gave a coy laugh.

"Ooh, it's giving you chills too, huh?"

The husky sound of her molester's voice gave Twilight more than enough reason to what she did then. Her horn lit up with magical power, and an enormous force erupted between her and the blue unicorn, blasting Trixie back several feet into the air. But instead of crashing to the ground, Trixie remained airborne, magically levitating herself and slowly coming to a gentle landing.

"Yes!" she shouted, looking up at her horn. "I knew I was right!"

"What-what in the hay was that?" Twilight said, inching slowly towards Seth. She didn't know the yellow pony very well, but he at least hadn't stuck his tongue anywhere near her body.

"I knew that was what was holding me back. Twilight, haven't you felt it? The ache, the want, the craving?" Trixie responded, a contented smile spreading across her face. "It took me until the night of the Gala to realize it, but you've been the reason I couldn't use my magic. But it wasn't because you hurt my pride. It was because my drive, my reason for existing had changed entirely.

"For the first time in my life, there was something in this world I was more obsessed with than myself; _you. _Every day since I left Ponyville, my thoughts were centered on you in some way. I didn't realize it at first, because I didn't understand it, but the night I saw you, in that amazing dress at the Gala, I felt the stirring in my guts, and knew that you were what I needed to get my magic back. I need my spark, my inspiration. I needed to have you."

Trixie was creeping closer to Twilight as she raved, and in response Twilight was moving back, using Seth as a buffer between her and the deranged unicorn.

"What's wrong, Twilight? Don't you feel better too? You've spent so long studying friendship here in this town, now you have a chance to study about something even _more_ intimate and fulfilling. Though I'm not sure you'll be able to write to Celestia about some of the lessons I'll be teaching you."

"Trixie, I don't know what's wrong with you," Twilight said, shifting uneasily on her hooves behind Seth. "But none of this makes any sense. I'm not, not interested in something like that. And I don't want you coming near me!"

Trixie's eyes narrowed and she looked quickly between Twilight and Seth, her suggestive grin morphing into a scowl.

"Oh…I see now. This little unicorn here is what's in the way, isn't he? Well tell me, you poorly coifed little-horn, what do you have to say in all this?"

Seth wasn't sure what to say. This wasn't anything he'd ever thought he'd experience, even in fanfiction, let alone be stuck in the middle of. After several long moments of uncertainty, Seth settled on the only thing his brain could muster at the moment.

"You should probably step to the side a bit."

"And why is that?"

"Because from the looks of it, there's an Alicorn about to smash into you."

"What?"

And, true to Seth's word, a dark blue and black alicorn came plummeting out of the sky, and crashed straight into Trixie. The two ponies slammed straight into the ground in a painful heap, sending up a huge dust cloud.

The sounds of groaning and coughing reached Seth's ears, and as the dust cleared, he was yet again greeted with a sight straight out of a fan comic.

Before the two unicorns, and on top of one, was Princess Luna, her main disheveled from the crash, her wings still flapping spastically, and a pair, or rather, a quartet, of pink socks on her hooves.

_I don't even know why I'm surprised at this point._

* * *

><p>The Novocain injection freed Rainbow from the physical pain, but only made everything worse. She couldn't feel anything below her chest now, which was certainly a blessing, but now she couldn't escape from the horror in front of her.<p>

Things had mostly followed her dream, thought Pinkie Pie had needed to improvise when it came time to cut off her wings, due to a lack of a hacksaw. That hadn't kept the pink pony from making the joke regardless. She'd instead settled on an incredibly sharp claw she claimed to have extracted from the body of Harry the bear.

Rainbow Dash had thought that since she had already gone through it in mind twice, she would be prepared for the torture. She had never been more wrong about anything in her entire life. While each horror wasn't new, the fact that she knew it was real, that there wouldn't be any waking up from this nightmare, magnified every single second of pain and fear.

Pinkie Pie seemed to be enjoying herself greatly. She hadn't stopped grinning and giggling the whole time, and now she had a smile too big to believe as she slowly disemboweled her formerly-winged friend.

"Ooh, wow, Rainbow, you've got some great looking intestines! Mr. and Mrs. Cake's bowels were so crammed with sugar that they looked all crusty, but yours look nice and well-kept. Guess all that flyings good for keeping regular, huh?"

Rainbow Dash didn't speak. She hadn't spoken in the last hour, unless you counted screaming and crying as speaking. If so, then she'd been a regular chatterbox during the entire encounter, starting when Pinkie Pie had sliced off her cutie mark. The earthy pony had taken the strip of flesh, taken off her pony-skin garb, and sewn the two together right then and there.

"I've gotta say Rainbow," Pinkie Pie had said. "Your wings go _really_ well with this whole outfit. I bet Rarity would love this!"

Now Pinkie Pie was firing off a number of awful (in more ways than one) puns as she slid Dash's twomach out of her eviscerated torso. Rainbow Dash barely heard her though. She was trying desperately to pass out, to get just a moment's respite from reality, to let her mind just shut down and preserve what little sanity she still had left.

She couldn't feel her body, but she knew that her strength was quickly fading. She'd be gone soon, and she'd be free.

_Yeah…that sounds nice_.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, as the oblivious Pinkie Pie kept on with her jokes and quips about the pegasus' organs. With the light blocked from her eyes, and the drugs keeping her numb, and the haziness that was beginning to muffle Pinkie's never ending commentary, it was almost as if Rainbow Dash was already gone.

And then she was.

* * *

><p>Neither one of them knew it, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack died within minutes of one another.<p>

Applejack's departure, while no less tragic, was at the very least a less painful end, though some would argue a much more humiliating one. The cider had been stronger than she realized, and not long after she'd drifted into the haze it offered, the orange earth pony had passed out beneath the still-running tap.

The amber liquid had continued to spill into her mouth, and soon the unconscious pony had convulsed beneath the stream, coughing and hacking, spasming wildly as the flow carried on hindered.

But it hadn't been the cider that drowned her. That was just the impetus. What ended her life ended up being her own body. In reaction to Applejack nearly consuming her entire body weight in alcohol, she'd thrown up.

If she'd been in any other position, she'd have simply woken up with a wet, gross story to tell, but she was lying face up, and the bile had nowhere to go. Applejack drowned in her own vomit.

She slept through her own death, never knowing she was joining her sister and friends.

* * *

><p>"Luna?"<p>

Seth really needed to learn to stop doing that. If he kept shouting every time a new character popped up, he was going to end up alienating everpony around him…again. But he at least had some slack on this one. After all, not only was this the first time Luna had been seen by a single person since the second episode, but she'd just shown up in socks. He had lost count of how many fan comics and fan drawings he'd seen depicting her wearing socks of every color, style, size, and pattern.

But it seemed none of the ponies around him had even noticed his outburst. Twilight was standing in stunned silence, Trixie was trying to stand back up after the crash, and Luna was staring up at the sky, looking around frantically.

"Princess Luna?" said Twilight. "What in the world is going on? What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"Twilight Sparkle," Luna said, glancing only briefly at the purple unicorn. "I'm sorry, I- I didn't know where else to turn. She's- she's lost it. She's destroyed my abacus! And now she's trying to get rid of my socks! She won't stop!"

"Luna, what in Celestia's name are you talking about?"

"Celestia!"

There was a loud swooping sound, as a tall, white alicorn with a multicolored mane landed behind the group. The four ponies had been so focused on Luna's shouting, they'd missed her approaching.

Princess Celestia stood before them in all her grandeur. Her mane and tail, each swirling mixes of green, pink, and blue, were wafting behind her in the non-existent breeze. Her golden tiara and necklace gleamed in the light of the sun.

Seth saw Luna inch backwards, keeping her body just barely off the ground, trying to crouch behind Trixie and her voluminous cloak.

"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed, a look of relief on her face. "You're here! I was so worried when you never responded to my letter about the necklace. What kept you? Oh that doesn't matter right now, I'm just so glad that you-"

Twilight, in her excitement to see the princess, had walked straight up to the large, domineering alicorn, only to be cut off by a swift blast of magic to the face, courtesy of the princess' oversized horn.

"Did I say you could speak to me?" Celestia uttered. Only it wasn't Celestia's voice. The voice that spoke carried a heavy Irish brogue, and sounded more like a human in a pub than a magical pastille pony animated by flash.

_Wait…I know that voice._

Memories flashed into Seth's mind. That voice was none other than the one given to Celestia in the _My Little Pony Mentally Advanced Series_ parody. That version of the character was…less benevolent. One story stuck out in particular, where Celestia forced her young apprentice to smother her pet bird with a pillow. As the bird happened to be a phoenix, they even did it multiple times.

With this knowledge to go on, every synapse in Seth's brain screamed in unison "GET. THE. FUCK. AWAY. RUN."

But damned if he wasn't curious to see where this went. So he stayed.

Twilight, on wobbly legs, righted herself, and gave a confused, hurt look towards Celestia.

"P-Princess, what in Equestria was that for?"

"I told you Twilight," Luna shouted, peeking out from behind Trixie. "She's lost her mind. It started late last night, when I was getting ready to set the moon. She started talking in that weird voice, and I thought she was just joking but…then she didn't stop. She kept talking about things like 'Mrs. Buzzy' and the 'Fall of the favorite' ploy."

Well, well, if it isn't my dear and wonderful sister," Celestia interrupted in her bizarrely intimidating accent. "I thought I saw you land here. Now why would you such a foolish thing like trying to hide from me? And over something as trivial as taking off those socks, too. You know perfectly well that it wouldn't behoove us for others to see the Royal Goddesses of Equestria prancing around in some bizarre garb like that, so why are you so frightful of me?"

"It's just…sister, you've been acting so strange lately, and what you did to my abacus earlier…"

"I already explained to you what that was all about. You were fawning over that hunk of wood like it was a baby. And now look what you've done. You've let three different ponies see you wearing them. Why, in order to preserve our image, logic would dictate that we would have to erase them, to make sure nopony ever catches wind of our embarrassment. Logic would dictate that I would need to do it brutally, so as to refrain from taking my anger out on you.

"And as you know Princess Luna, I am a _very_ logical ruler."

_RUUUUUUUUN. RUN YOU FOALS. RUN AS IF THE HOUNDS OF HELL THEMSELVES WERE NIPPING AT YOUR HEELS. SHE WILL TURN YOU INTO SENTIENT SHOVELS AND USE YOU TO CLEAN THE ROYAL STABLES. SHE WILL BANISH YOU, IMPRISON YOU IN THE PLACE SHE BANISHED YOU, AND THEN BLOW YOU UP. TWICE._

And yet Seth still didn't heed the warnings his brain was hollering at him. Though now it was less out of curiosity, and more out of abject, bowel-voiding fear. Though it was at that time he discover Ponies apparently don't have anuses.

_Think god for small miracles._

"Hey, you," Celestia said, turning to Seth. "You mind turning down the shouting. I'm trying to have a polite discussion with my sister, and I do not enjoy being interrupted."

_Oh fuck. She can read my mind. Have to hum the rubber ducky song. _

It seemed Celestia was uninterested in the tales of the yellow duck that made bath time tons of fun, and she turned back to Luna.

"So my dear sister, as I see it, we have two choices. You can take off those socks now, and I will destroy them quickly, or you can keep them and watch as they slowly learn what the pony of death looks like. Your choice my dear sister."

"I-I'm sorry sister, I'll get rid of them, just please don't hurt them!"

In nearly and instant, the socks were gone, magically made to disappear. But looking at the expression on Celestia's face, it seemed she was certainly planning on still hurting them.

"Now that that's settled, which of you three little unicorns wants to be first? Perhaps the yellow one who keeps singing about ducks?"

She tilted her head towards Seth, who was doing his best not to move or make eye contact. After all, there was still the possibility that if he stood very still, she'd just think he was a very realistic looking lawn ornament. He doubted it worked, but she didn't seem interested in taking him first at least. She turned instead towards Trixie.

"Or perhaps you, little blue one. You seem to be the bravest of this group. You're the only one so far who hasn't thought about running. But then, you also seem to be more than a bit dim, and you keep thinking about other things. Which bring me to…"

Celestia turned away from Trixie, and suddenly her domineering focus was all aimed straight at Twilight.

"My most faithful and trusting student, Twilight Sparkle. Though I must say, you don't seem too faithful right now. Seems the only reason you haven't run away is because you know I'd catch you. That's not a very good way for a student to view their mentor, now is it? If that's the way you're going to treat my hospitality, I do believe you'll be the first to leave. Care to tell me what you've learned about friendship today?"

Twilight didn't move. Her expression was a combination of contradicting and clashing emotions; fear, disbelief, sadness, anger, they were all there. The purple unicorn looked absolutely paralyzed as the white alicorn stepped forward with glowing horn and a look of unbridled glee on her face. It seemed that Celestia planned to enjoy this greatly.

The alicorn leaned her head down, her large horn aimed straight at Twilight's chest, the magical glow flashed, and bright beam of energy fired forward.

…and straight into the ground, as Trixie threw herself into Celestia.

The princess stumbled to the side, taken off balance by the attack. Trixie placed herself between the Alicorn and Twilight, standing determined and defiant.

"Don't you _dare_ try to so much as scratch her! She is the lover of none other than the _Great _ and _Powerful_ Trixie, and shall not be touched by anyone I deign unworthy, and that includes even you, Princess Celestia."

Seemingly recovered from the short shock of somepony daring to stand against her, the strangely accented princess chuckled at Trixie and her boasts.

"Welly well, I never thought I'd hear that. I'm surprised you never wrote to me about this little fire cracker Twilight Sparkle. And a lover you say? Well don't that just beat all? I never would have begged Twilight as a pony who bucked for the other team, but I guess she's just full of surprises today.

"But you, Ms. 'Great and Powerful Trixie' have made a mistake. You've made me angry, and as a result, you've made it straight to the top of my list. Say what short goodbyes you can muster love."

Trixie didn't look the least bit intimidated. She stood her ground, glaring at the eerily aloof alicorn, and began concentrating her magic. Her horn shimmered, glowed, shined, and an enormous magical aura began to emit from it, so powerful that a great wind began to stir around the group. The magical power grew and grew, pulsing with a power Seth had never thought he'd experience.

And it was all snuffed out in a flash of Celestia's spell.

It was blinding, terrifying, and sent a quake through every cell in Seth's body. Her heard, for just a moment, Trixie crying out in pain, and then there was nothing but a high-pitched ringing in his ears and an inscrutable light in his eyes.

When he was finally able to see again, Seth saw there was nothing, absolutely nothing left where Trixie had been standing. Not a stitch of black cloth, or a single white tail hair. There was no scorch mark where she had been, nothing. It was as if Trixie wasn't gone, but that she'd never _been _to begin with.

Silence, but for the soft hiss of the breeze.

Then a scream and the splattering of blood, as Luna collapsed. A large, one-eyed bear with a burlap sack fit to burst and a large, blood smattered hammer gripped in his paws stood next to the alicorn's body.

Krastos the Glue Maker stood resolute in front of them.

* * *

><p>This pony, with her curly, multicolored mane, was the 14th victim they'd found since entering the town, and Greyhoof was smart enough to realize what was happening.<p>

"How many more must we find?" Three Leaf screeched as she let the white earth pony's organ fall from her teeth.

"It's obvious now," Greyhoof said calmly in response. "This town…perhaps this entire world, has been tainted by those marks. So much that now they believe it to be normal."

"You can't really mean that!" Roneo shouted over the desiccated corpse. "An entire world possessed by this darkness? How could that happen?"

"This is a dark world, but now we know what we must do," Greyhoof told the excitable young stallion.

"And what is that? How can we get back to our village if this entire world is consumed by this plague? How will I ever be able to see Starlet again?"

"It's simple, Roneo. All we have to do is cleanse this world. We are eternal, and we will not be stopped. You will find your love again, but it is our duty to destroy this curse, and purge it from this corrupted world."

"Gee, that sounds like a lot of work."

The pink pony was nothing short of the most bizarre sight the 3 dark ponies had ever seen. She stood before them, having somehow approached without their noticing, in a bizarre dress, sewn crudely from pony flesh, a half-dozen unicorn horns strung across her neck, and three pairs of Pegasus wings lashed across her back.

But it was the dress that was the most unsettling, for it was constructed of very specific bits of pony skin. There were more than a dozen multicolored sections, each emblazoned with a cutie mark.

They didn't know what the dress was meant to be, but they instinctively feared it, and its owner. They backed up steadily, cursing under their breaths.

"What kind of foul creature are you?" Three Leaf said, being the first to recover from the sight of the pink pony.

"I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm not 'foul' or anything like that. In fact, I'm the best in Ponyville at throwing parties! And I just wanted to thank you three. Since I came back into Ponyville, I've been seeing your work all over the place. I'm surprised just how good you are at getting them done so fast too. And you even left their Cutie Marks intact to help me complete the dress. You three sure are considerate."

"We did not leave their marks untouched for you to make an outfit of them!" Roneo shouted. "We did so because we do not want to be tainted by their curse! What kind of monster are you that you can surround yourselves with them?"

"I'm not a monster, silly, I'm just somepony with good fashion taste."

"You're nothing but a demon," Greyhoof growled, stepping forward. "And we are here to exorcise you, and the rest of your world. We shall cleanse this dark place with a purifying light!"

Greyhoof leaped forward, his razor-shard teeth aimed at Pinkie Pie's throat, but just as his teeth nipped her skin, he felt a piercing pain slice into is left eye. He fell to the side, howling in pain, as the pink pony rose stood over him, a large, silver knife inexplicably clenched in her teeth as she giggled at him.

Roneo lunged at her while she was distracted, and managed to bite deep into her front leg. The pony barely even seemed to notice the injury, and instead stabbed down with her knife, which sliced its way straight into Roneo's forehead. The dark stallion collapsed, but took the knife with him as the handle slid from between Pinkie's jaws.

The loss of her weapon didn't seem to faze her though, as she continued to laugh at the two dark ponies as they lay injured on the ground.

"Well, if you three go down this easily, you won't be able to give me any of that exercise you were talking about! But this does mean that I get to have some fun with you, since I don't have to worry about damaging your Cutie Marks!"

Greyhoof tried to rise, but he was too dazed to stand straight, and could only manage to prop his upper body up on his front hooves. The pony began nonchalantly towards him, but suddenly Three Leaf fell upon her, teeth gnashing and hooves kicking furiously at her deranged opponent.

The pair rolled out of Greyhoof's line of sight, but he could hear grunting and howling, and the sound of blood spilling. He forced himself to rise, and when he turned, he saw the pink pony standing over Three Leaf, with her back turned to him. She was bloody and scratched, and much of her disgusting dress was damaged, but she was still very much alive.

It was when he saw Three Leaf's body that he realize just how hurt the pink demon was. Most of his companion's body was undamaged, and it was clear what had killed her. Wrapped around her throat, tied in a suffocating knot, was what had to be part of Pinkie Pie's intestines.

Greyhoof knew that the pony was weakened now, and wasn't suspecting an attack. This was his chance to end her, and continue on his quest to cleanse this world. He launched himself at her back, and latched his mouth around the back of her throat, but was met with an unexpected resistance.

During the struggle with Three Leaf, Pinkie Pie's necklace had been spun around onto her back, and as the dark pony threw himself upon the unsuspecting earth pony, one of the horns had dug directly into his chest. His jaw unclenched, and he slid off of the pony's back, as she too crumpled to the ground.

Blood poured from Greyhoof's throat, and he felt the strength seep out of his body. He closed his eyes, unable to breath, and tried to fight the encroachment of death.

A vision flashed into his mind as the darkness that had always surrounded him encroached on his spirit. He saw her clearly; a young, frightened filly, tears streaming form her eyes and soaking her long, blonde mane as the townsponies approached, the image of a magnifying glass on her flank.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was fighting for her own life, but she knew it was a losing battle. The three of them had been very skilled at their work, and she knew she would be no different from the rest of their work. But she'd managed to get 16 cutie marks for her dress, and it had looked great when it was intact.

Her vision began to blur, and soon all she could see as she lay on the ground was an ever advancing blackness. She was scared. Ever since she was a tiny filly, she'd hated when it got dark. Night always felt so cold and alone, and that was always when parties had to end.

But she remembered what her dear old Granny Pie had always told her.

_Giggle at the ghosties…guffaw and the grossly…_

Pinkie Pie did her best to giggle, but soon it became a cough, then a hack.

Then, it was silence.

* * *

><p>Celestia's attack was instant and devastating. It seemed that she didn't need time to process the sudden death of Luna. She simply saw a threat, and sought to eliminate in a timely manner. A flash of white light, identical to that which destroyed Trixie only moment before, engulfed Krastos.<p>

As the powerful flash of light erupted where Krastos stood, Seth was sure that this was the end of it all. He'd just seen two ponies die brutally right before his eyes, and it was clear that Celestia had no intention of sparing anyone who crossed her, even the intimidating and stoic bear. Once the blinding light cleared, he was sure that Celestia would turn her attention to him and Twilight, and they'd meet the same fate as Trixie and the monster.

But when Seth could finally see, the bear was still there. He was singed, and his bag was deflated and empty, but he still looked very much alive. He stepped forward, towards Celestia, as if he was completely unaware (or completely uncaring) of the attack he'd just suffered.

Princess Celestia looked just as taken aback as Seth felt. It was clear she'd expected Krastos to be little more than dust and the wind. The monstrous bear stepped forward, hefting his hammer in his right paw, his eye set dead on the alicorn. The creature's silent approach managed to rouse Celestia from her momentary shock, and she stepped forward herself, horn glowing with power.

"What do we have here then? A beast with more of a bite to it, eh? You'll be a nice warm up for finishing off these two."

If Kratsos could speak, he certainly didn't show any signs of wanting to. Instead he simply carried on with the same unflinching stride as always, raising his hammer above his head and preparing to strike.

Princess Celestia took that opportunity to attack. A bolt of white hot energy shot forth from her horn, and struck the enormous beast straight in the chest. At the same time, the monstrous bear's arm descended down in a powerful swing. The hammer connected with the left side of Celestia's face, and glanced off her eye.

Krastos was forced backwards by the blow, but didn't fall. As the bear regained his footing, Seth got a good look at him, and was shocked at just how much punishment the bear could take. The fur and skin of the Glue Maker's chest had been blasted away, leaving muscle and bone exposed. The lower jaw had also been blown off, leaving the creature's tongue lolling out from beneath his nose.

Yet still it moved forward towards the alicorn again.

Princess Celestia also looked worse for wear. The entire left side of her face was indented, from the bridge of her nose all the way to her ear, there was a dip indicative of an obviously broken skull, and her eye hung loose from the socket, dangling by the optic nerve.

She too moved forward, an amazing brilliance shining from her horn as a massive amount of magic coalesced.

Again the two combatants came at each other, and again there was a simultaneous exchange of attacks. Krastos' hammer smashed into Celestia's side, eliciting a loud, painful crack.

Celestia's magic erupted from her horn, and a beam of light engulfed Krastos' head and shoulders. The bear's torso slumped and fell to its knees, every inch of matter that had touched the light gone without a trace.

The white alicorn collapsed, her right wing being crushed beneath her body.

Up to that point, Seth and Twilight had remained riveted in the same spots they'd been in when Luna was attacked, but the purple unicorn ran forward as she witnessed her mentor's fall. She stopped at the injured alicorn's side, and knelt down next to her. Seth reluctantly joined her, still not sure if it was safe to approach the raving mad princess.

As he got closer, he saw that Twilight was trembling where she stood, tears infrequently falling from her watering eyes. He wasn't sure to be surprised or not. After all, while Celestia _had_ been her loving and protective mentor, now she was nothing more than a dying monster who had threatened to kill them for the crime of seeing her sister in socks.

"Twilight…I don't know what to say…" Seth stammered. He was in too much shock to think about what he should do.

"Why?" Twilight whimpered. "Why do I want to kill her?"

_What._

"What?"

"Ever since she first arrived…I keep hearing this voice in my head. Telling me to kill her. To take her power and crown. To take over Equestria."

_What in the…_

"But she's the princess…she's practically raised me since I was a filly. And now she's…she's this monster!"

Twilight knelt down, and bent over the twitching form of Celestia, who was just barely clinging to life.

"Why…why is this happening? This isn't how things are supposed to go! Just yesterday everything was fine! Everypony was happy and safe, and now all of this…who would make this happen?"

Seth didn't know what to say. In the last 10 minutes he'd been exposed to the most horrific, bizarre, and all around terrible experiences he'd ever witnessed, and to him it was all still a show. But for Twilight…and Celestia, and Luna, and Trixie and every other pony in Ponyville, it was their home, their life, and it had been turned on his head.

"I can't stop," Twilight wept. "I'm sorry, princess."

Twilight Sparkle's horn began to glow, and at first Seth didn't realize what she was doing. But then he saw Celestia's neck glowing and constricting. Twilight was magically choking her mentor.

At first, the Alicorn struggled, her legs kicking feebly as she realized what was happening to her. But it seemed that the blows from Krastos had weakened her too much to offer up any real fight. Soon enough, as Twilight's tears spilled off her face and onto the Princess' white coat, Princess Celestia stopped moving altogether. Her chest stopped its rise and fall, and the light left her eyes.

Twilight buried her face in the princess' now unmoving mane, completely broken.

Seth did the only thing he could think of; the only thing that his mind could still process.

He ran.

* * *

><p>To say Seth had an unsettling trip through Ponyville would be such an understatement, calling it an understatement would be an understatement in and of itself.<p>

It seemed that the monsters he'd seen were just a small sample of the insanity going on. He was greeted with so many awful and unexplainable sights, they all began to blur together. However, a few choice moments stuck out to him amongst the constant scenes of corpses and rubble.

He had run past what he was sure had once been Carousel Boutique, but was now nothing but a pile of smoldering wood and ash, the only visible occupant a small, yellow earth pony he wished he didn't recognize.

Then he'd seen something less horrifying, but no less bewildering. Derbyshire, or judging by his new attire, maybe it was now appropriate to call him Dr. Whooves, stood in front of a pony that looked to be made out of stars. He had a sonic screwdriver in his teeth, shining it towards the creature as it slowly walked towards him. Seth was a bit surprised at his lack of curiosity at the scene, but that passed soon.

The next moment that stuck out was when he'd rounded a corner, and found a bloodbath.

There were three ponies, bitch black with red eyes, splayed in various states of mutilation and injury, lying in puddles of their own blood, and amongst the bodies was the corpse a pink pony, wearing a necklace of unicorn horns and a shredded dress of pony skin. Pinkie Pie lay there, dead, with a slight smile on her face. Even in death, she had found something to laugh about it seemed.

Not far from there, he spotted somepony actually _alive_, but he'd known immediately he wasn't welcome. It was an aqua green unicorn with a lyre cutie mark, standing up tall on her hind legs. In her arms, she held the unmoving, blood drenched body of a white earth pony with a dark purple and pink mane.

Seth turned down a different street, not wanting to be noticed by the weeping pony.

Seth didn't know how long he ran, or how he managed to not find his way out of Ponyville. But eventually he had to stop, for his body wouldn't keep going like this forever. He had to find some place to hide, to escape.

The front door of the house on his left opened, and Seth reflexively flinched at the unexpected movement. He had to stare for several seconds before he could make sense of what he saw.

There, in the doorway, was a grey Pegasus pony with a blonde mane, a group of bubbles serving as her Cutie mark. Her instantly recognizable wall-eyed expression was identical to the countless fan images Seth had seen of her.

"Hello Mr. Sethisto," Derpy Hooves greeted him. "I see you received my letter."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Derpy?"

_I never did get ahold of doing that. Though I guess now it's too late to really worry about it. Something tells me the only time I'll be seeing any other characters is if they're either dead, or trying to kill me. Or both._

"Greetings Sethisto, or would you prefer I call you Seth?"

"Um…Seth's fine, yeah."

Seth was wary about talking with her. While Derpy's fanon interpretation had always been pretty harmless (barring the occasional accident), he'd figured out by now that if the choice was between dangerous or docile, danger won out 95% of the time.

"Please, come inside," She said, stepping to the side of the doorway. "There's a lot I'm sure you want to know, and I don't think this is the safest place to discuss it."

Figuring he had nothing to lose, Seth entered the small house. Derpy led him to a cozy living room. The pair of ponies each took a seat (Seth rather awkwardly, as he wasn't used to sitting in his current form) on the green couch on the far wall.

_Weird, I always figured Pegasi liked to live in cloud castles. I wonder why she chose to live on the ground._

"Wait…I thought there were barriers keeping everything shut up?"

"They failed after the Slender Mane entered Town Hall and killed the mayor. He also destroyed the magical orb that kept them up. After that, ponies thought it was safe and tried venturing outside. That only led to more…destruction. That was part of my warning to you in the letter. I wanted you to stay at Town Hall to fight Slender Mane, along with the other members of the defense force. That would have prevented many, many deaths."

"Wait…letter? You sent me a letter?" Seth asked, confused by this new development. Then he remembered. "The email? That was you? But it was signed…"

"DH-DD. Derpy Hooves – Ditzy Doo. I wasn't sure just which name you preferred to use for me, so I included both. Personally I like Derpy, it was my first after all."

"So that was you who told me that…that this was going to happen. You said that I 'shouldn't avoid him' and that's what you meant?"

"Yes indeed. I wanted to warn you, but I knew if I said it blatantly, it would stick with you. But I suppose I should have been clearer, it seems you didn't remember after all."

"It's not your fault. It was days ago for me…and I barely slept a wink after I got it. But now that I think of it…there was another part to that too. You told me to not 'try with her.' Who exactly was that?"

"That…was my misjudgment of you, Seth. I'm afraid that when I wrote that, I thought it was a possibility you might try to…mate…with Trixie."

"_WHAT?_"

"Like I said, that was my mistake. I didn't know all that much about you at the time, except from a picture of you as a pony I saw, where you were chasing after Trixie. I'd read some…disparaging stories about that sort of stuff, and I just hoped I could dissuade you. But as it turned out, you never thought about that for even a moment."

"Well I…guess that makes sense. For somepony who isn't familiar with me, that joke might come off as serious. But that makes me wonder, just how in the world you knew about that? And how did you write the email?"

"That's a bit of a long story, but I'll try my best to explain.

"It all started after the first episode aired. Not long after that happened, your group was created. The 'bronies' as you called yourself. That was something that nobody, in your universe or ours, saw coming. This universe was created as a show for little girls, and everything around it was set up with that in mind. The idea that it would get a large, passionate fanbase wasn't something the creators had considered when the world was constructed, and the Barriers came into being.

"You see, whenever a world is thought up, be it fictional or otherwise, it begins to come together. Every story, every cartoon, every book or movie or anything else, as soon as it's thought up, it exists. The creator of it will think about it as much as they wish, and it will evolve from that. The same thing happens whenever a fanfiction is made. A new universe comes into creation. In between all these universes are Barriers that keep them separate and defined. They are made to be resolute, able to handle anything the creator would ever expect to be made in relation to it.

"But that's just it. You were all so unexpected, the Barriers for this world were never meant to handle the amount of fanfiction, and devotion, and even obsession that you all made. It began to wear and tear on the walls between worlds, until eventually, they started to crumble. And when the first crack appeared in the Barriers, that was when I came about."

"You? But didn't you already exist here?"

"Yes, but…I believe one of your philosophers once said 'I think, therefore I am?' Well, until then, my existence was only that of a background character. I had no mind or personality. I only existed to stand slightly out of focus behind the main characters, and occasionally react as was warranted. But when your interpretations came through into this world, for the first time in my life, I could think. And not only that, I soon learned about our existence as a show, and the Barriers and the worlds and everything else.

"As time went on, and your fandom grew, other changes began to happen. Lyra and Bon Bon moved in together. Colgate began talking to everypony about brushing their teeth. It was simple things that didn't stick out too much in Ponyville. Just things and ponies that already existed acting a bit different as time went on.

"But then, recently, things have been appearing that hadn't before. Most ponies didn't take notice, but I saw it. For instance, far off in the distance, an enormous mountain range appeared that had never existed before. I believe they were called the Archenback in the story they were from?"

"Yeah…they were from 'Dangerous Business.'"

"I saw the signs, and knew that soon the less harmless elements would begin coming in, and eventually those most devoted might even find themselves breaking in here. That's why I sent you the email. I figured that if anyone were to be involved enough to fall into this place, it would be the one who lead the fan site."

"So wait…what you're saying is that all of this…this nightmarish stuff, is happening because of the bronies? That our stories and fanfics were what caused this stuff? That's…that's horrible!"

Seth had been taking this information dump in stride. It all made sense in some bizarre sense. After all, it wasn't like he could come up with a more plausible explanation for his being here. But now, to think that the people he talked to, that the site he ran, the stories he promoted and commented on, that they'd all helped contribute to the awful things he'd seen…he hated himself.

Derpy, however, only chuckled at him.

"You know Seth, it isn't just the bad stuff that came through."

There came a stirring sound, and then a series of whimpers, from a room to the left of the couch. Derpy rose from the couch and walked quietly into the room, gesturing for Seth to follow. Inside there was a small bed, and in the bed, wrapped up in a yellow quilt, was Dinky Hooves, the unicorn filly that many fans had theorized was Dinky's daughter.

"Shh, shh, there, there, Sweetie," Derpy hushed the filly as she jostled around under her covers. "Hush now. Quiet now. Just sleep for a little long, okay my little muffin?"

Dinky mumbled something Seth couldn't hear, but it seemed to make sense to his blonde host just fine.

Keeping sure to not make a sound, the two ponies exited the room, a sad smile on Derpy's face as she closed the door behind them.

"So wait. She's really your daughter?"

"Like I said Seth. It wasn't just the bad stuff that's come through."

Suddenly, the earth shook beneath their hooves, causing them both to stumble.

"Hmm…" Derpy said, looking towards the door. "I guess it's time."

"Time for what?"

"For everything to go back."

"Sorry for asking this for the thousandth time, but…what in all hell are you talking about?"

"Don't you remember the very first part of my letter said, Seth? I told you not to worry about all the stuff that happens here, because everything will return to the way it's meant to be. Now come on, I don't think you'll want to miss her."

Confused, but far past the point of expecting an explanation, Seth followed the wall-eyed Pegasus out the door, and into the pandemonium filled streets. At first, it all seemed just like he'd expected, there was another building on fire, he could hear screams in the distance, and there was a smell of burning flesh in the air.

But then he saw the once major difference in it all.

Descending from on high, a great shadow in the sky, backlit by the deep red perpetual sunset left by Celestia's death, was a large, white Alicorn. As she descended to the ground, just a few feet from where Seth stood dumbfounded, the rest of her came into focus. Her tail and man were a deep red, not unlike Seth's pony form. Her Cutie Mark was a quill and ink well.

_That's…that's the alicorn that Lauren Faust sketched of herself for the Season 2 interview. Don't tell me…_

The alicorn, the Fausticorn as some had called it, looked at the two of them with a kind smile, and nodded to the pair. Seth saw Derpy bow low, and followed suit. Then, with a small, benevolent chuckle, the alicorn turned from them, kicked off from the ground, and flew towards the center of the town.

It was strange. Ethereal. He felt like he was watching something…otherworldly. Her wings lifted her off the ground, yet she never seemed to disturb the air around her. Her red mane and tail shimmered behind her in a non-existent breeze. Seth couldn't take his eyes away.

"Seth," Derpy said, staring at the alicorn as she stopped, hovering above Sugar Cube Corner. "If it's not too much to ask…could you try and ask the show creators about/about me keeping Dinky?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Definitely."

"Though really, you probably won't remember it."

A bright globe of light erupted from the tip of the alicorn's horn as she rose into the sky.

It hovered above her, slowly spinning

In an instant, it exploded, and engulfed the town. The country. The universe.

Everything was at once there and gone. Seth felt totally alone, yet he could still sense Derpy, standing calmly by his side, as reality itself ended, and began anew.

Seth was blinded as the white, purifying warmth surrounded him

And then…there was nothingness.

Epilogue

Seth opened his eyes, the side of his head aching. As he rose, it was no surprise he was in pain. He'd somehow managed to fall asleep with his face on the keyboard.

"Oh man. I really do need to cut back on the late nights…"

Then he spotted the time and date on the corner of his computer screen. It was 8:30 am, September 17th! The first episode of season 2 started in just half an hour.

He jumped up quickly, heading straight for the living room, and got himself in front of the Television ASAP. He couldn't wait to see the new episode, and to talk about it with everyone else online.

He also had one heck of a dream to tell everyone.

* * *

><p>Apple Bloom rose groggily from her bed. She hated Monday mornings. It was always hard to get back into the swing of going back to school after the weekend. But Applejack never let her oversleep.<p>

Right on time, as always, the yellow filly's sister was shaking her awake, looking rather worn out herself.

"You know, Applejack, I had one weird dream last night. Can't remember much though…" Apple Bloom told her sister, while the orange earth pony finished brushing the filly's mane. Once she was done, Applejack placed the brush down.

"You too huh? I reckon last night was pretty strange for everypony last night. I remember having a right crazy dream too. But that'll have to wait. You need to get some breakfast. Anything you want in particular?"

"Just…not anything with marshmallows. I kind a don't feel like having those for a while."

* * *

><p>Rarity snuggled closer to Sweetie Belle. She felt a bit silly doing it. After all, she was the older sister, and yet she was asking to sleep with her younger sister after having a bad dream.<p>

But what little she remembered of the dream left her more than a little worried about Sweetie. She didn't recall very much, but the sound of Sweetie Belle screaming had stuck with her, and she wanted to stay there, and make sure nothing bad happened to her little sister.

With the soft feeling of the little filly's nose nuzzling her neck, Rarity closed her eyes, and drifted back into a soft, dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>Pinkie Pie rushed down the stairs of Sugar Cube Corner, terrified out of her wits. She stumbled half way down, and crashed down the rest of the way. When she finally came to a stop, she found herself upside down, with Mr. and Mrs. Cake staring at her, asking if she was alright.<p>

Pinkie sighed with relief to see them. When she'd woken up she'd thought…what exactly was it she'd been thinking of? She knew she'd dreamed about bad things happening, and they involved the cakes, but she couldn't remember anything else.

"Are you sure you're alright, dear?" Mrs. Cake asked.

"Yeppers! I'm okay! Just…a bad dream is all."

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash spotted Scootaloo when the filly was on her way to school. She immediately shot down towards her little admirer, swooping down to fly beside the little Pegasus on her scooter.<p>

"Rainbow Dash!" she shouted. "What're you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see if you were interested in some flying lessons after school."

"Would I!"

Rainbow grinned to herself. Feeling silly that she'd been so worried about the pony.

After all, she wasn't the type to be shaken by bad dreams.

* * *

><p>Fluttershy gently shook Angel awake, and was relieved when the bunny opened his eyes with a surly growl.<p>

"Oh, good morning Angel bunny," She said. "Are you hungry?"

The white rabbit paused for a second, then shook his head.

"Oh, well if you do get hungry, I've left you plenty of carrots to munch on in the kitchen."

Fluttershy sighed, glad to see that it was just a dream she was hazily remembering, nothing else.

* * *

><p>Twilight Sparkle was quickly scribbling a note for princess Celestia when Spike stumbled into the library.<p>

"Twilight! We've got trouble! Everything in Ponyville's going crazy!"

For just a moment, Twilight had a flash of memory. Screaming. Crying. Running.

Then it was gone.

"What's going on, Spike?"

"It sounds weird but…there's chocolate milk falling down from the sky over Sweet Apple Acres."

She wasn't sure why, but Twilight sighed internally, suddenly relieved.

"Give me a second. I'll need to find a psell that deals with weather."

As the purple dragon skittered up one of the many ladders in the library to search for a pertinent book, Twilight scribbled the last few lines of her letter, and made a mental to have Spike send it once everything was taken care of.

She felt silly, but she just felt like she needed to tell Celestia about the dream she'd had.

* * *

><p>Derpy Hooves fitted her satchel tight around her shoulder. It was early, but that was just part of working for the Ponyvill post office. Besides, there was one last thing she needed to do, and it needed to happen early.<p>

Right on time, Dinky bounded out of her room, her tiny saddle bag weighed down with her text book.

"I'm ready mommy!"

"Alright, muffin. Let's get you to school, and then Momma's gotta go to work."

The grey pegasus smiled to herself; content in knowing full well that it _hadn't_ all been just a dream.

But even if it had, good dreams were always the ones you remembered.

The End


End file.
